Three named to baseball Academic All-America team

AUSTIN, Texas - Three student-athletes from the Southeastern Conference were named to the 2020-21 Academic All-America® Division I baseball team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Rankin Woley of Auburn and Brett Kerry of South Carolina were named to the First Team, and T.J. Collett of Kentucky earned a spot on the Second Team.

Woley, who was previously named Second Team Academic All-America by CoSIDA in 2020, graduated summa cum laude with a 3.92 GPA last summer, earning his bachelor's degree in Business Administration, and took classes this year to prepare for medical school. This past season, he ranked second on the team with a .320 average and added 12 doubles and a career-high 10 homers. In three seasons and 132 games in an Auburn uniform, Woley turned in a .311 career average and collected 162 hits, 37 doubles, 15 homers and 98 RBI. He was also named the 2020 SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Woley is Auburn's third two-time Academic All-American, joining Robert Sorrell (1981-82) and Cole Lipscomb (2015, 2017) on the list.

Kerry, an operations and supply chain major with a 3.72 GPA, was 5-1 with a 2.15 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 54.1 innings pitched for the Gamecocks in 2021. He earned All-America honors by both D1Baseball and the NCBWA. Kerry made 17 appearances with three starts and had a complete-game shutout against Kentucky on May 15, striking out 10 while not walking a batter. Kerry is the first Gamecock baseball player to earn First Team Academic All-America honors since LB Dantzler in 2013. He is the first Gamecock baseball player to earn any Academic All-America honor since Grayson Greiner made the second team in 2014. Kerry was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the fifth round of the 2021 MLB Draft.

Collett, a graduate senior first baseman, completed his graduate certificate in Communication this spring and recently was named the 2021 winner of the Senior CLASS Award that recognizes excellence on and off the field. Collett concluded his UK career second on the school's all-time home run list and in the top 10 in RBI. Collett becomes the fifth UK baseball player since 2006 to be recognized, joining Collin Cowgill (2006 and 2008), Austin Cousino (2014), Dustin Beggs (2016) and Marshall Gei (2019).

FIRST TEAM

Pos.       Name                         School                                     GPA                Yr.          Major

P           Brett Kerry                  University of South Carolina    3.72                Jr.          Operations & Supply Chain

IF          Rankin Woley (1)       Auburn University                     3.92                Sr.          Business Administration

SECOND TEAM

Pos.      Name                         School                                      GPA                Yr.           Major

IF          T.J. Collett                  University of Kentucky             3.40 / 3.40      Gr.            Communication (G)

(1) = 2020 Second Team Academic All-America®