AUSTIN, Texas – Thanks to his outstanding performance on the diamond and in the classroom, Penn State Harrisburg baseball player Bret Williams has been named a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American.
Williams was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team, becoming the first student-athlete in school history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition of any kind.
Earlier this spring, Williams earned D3baseball.com Preseason First-Team All-America honors and was named to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Division III Players to Watch List. Prior to the 2020 season being cut short, the senior was slashing a blistering .472/.525/.887 with an OPS of 1.412. Through just 12 games, he racked up 25 hits, including five home runs and seven doubles, to go along with 17 runs batted in and 14 runs scored. The outfielder was named the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Player of the Week in early March.
Following a 2019 campaign that saw him clinch NCAA Division III Statistical Championships in the categories of hits (88), runs (75) and total bases (161), he was named a First-Team All-American by both ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com. The Mount Carmel, Pa. native was named the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Player of the Year and First-Team All-Region by the ABCA and Rawlings to go along with a D3baseball.com First-Team All-Region honor. The outfielder was named the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Player of the Year thanks to slashing .431/.514/.789 with an OPS of 1.303, winning the league's batting title and ranking second in the nation in home runs (18) and RBI (70). He added 36 extra-base hits, including 17 doubles, 32 walks and seven stolen bases. Williams was named CAC First-Team All-Conference for the second year in a row after picking up D3baseball.com National Team of the Week and CAC Player of the Week honors earlier in the year.
Williams has also been consistent in the classroom, having earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors earlier this spring, while also being named to the CAC All-Academic Team on two occasions. The Security and Risk Analysis major currently holds a 3.31 cumulative GPA.
CoSIDA annually recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances both athletically and in the classroom. To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-American consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.