Southern Illinois forward Marcus Domask was named to the 2022-23 Academic All-America First Team, selected by the College Sports Communicators (Formally CoSIDA) and announced Tuesday. Domask holds a 3.99 GPA in Sport Administration. Ben Krikke of Valparaiso earned second-team honors.
DOMASK
"This is a tremendous honor for Marcus. I couldn't be happier for him and everything he has earned here at SIU," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "He embodies what it means to be a Saluki on the court, in the classroom, and the community. This is a four-year award that doesn't happen overnight. He has always prioritized his academics and understands how big of an impact it will have on the rest of his life."
The senior has earned a plethora of academic honors over his time at SIU including back-to-back State Farm MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, CSC Academic All-District, NABC Academic All-District, MVC First Team Scholar-Athlete, MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence honors among others.
Domask becomes SIU's fourth-ever First Team Academic All-American, joining Mike Glenn (1976, 77) and Bryan Mullins (2008, 09), and Marcus Bartley (2019). Domask, a Waupun, Wisconsin native, ended the 2022-23 season leading SIU in points (16.7), rebounds (5.8), and assists (3.4). He ranks in the top 20 in program history in scoring (9th-1,615), rebounds (19th-564), and assists (8th-356).
Southern Illinois University student-athletes have now earned Academic All-America honors 103 times all-time, which is the most of any Missouri Valley Conference school.
SIU MEN'S BASKETBALL ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS
Don Portugal (Third Team), 1972
Mike Glenn (First Team), 1976
Mike Glenn (First Team), 1977
Jamaal Tatum (Second Team), 2007
Bryan Mullins (Second Team), 2008
Bryan Mullins (First Team), 2009
Marcus Bartley (Third Team), 2018
Marcus Bartley (First Team), 2019
Marcus Domask (First Team), 2023
KRIKKE
Krikke, who owns a 3.79 cumulative grade point average in finance, becomes just the second player in program history to earn Academic All-America First or Second Team honors, joining Alec Peters (2016-17). Krikke is just the fourth Academic All-American in program history, joining Peters and a pair of third team honorees – Dan Oppland (2004-05) and Joel Oberman (1972-73).
This marked Krikke’s second award of the day as earlier on Tuesday he was tabbed to the NABC All-District Second Team for District 16.
Krikke, the Missouri Valley Conference leader in scoring both overall (19.4 points per game) and in league play (21.0 ppg), pulled down 5.9 rebounds per game, shot 55.2 percent from the field and hit at a 79.6 percent clip from the free-throw line. Krikke was named to the All-MVC First Team, MVC Most-Improved Team and MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, the only player in the conference to earn all three honors.
In addition to scoring, Krikke ranked among the league leaders in rebounding (11th), field-goal percentage (second), free-throw percentage (10th), blocked shots (ninth), offensive rebounding (ninth) and minutes played (second). He scored 622 points during the season – the sixth most in a single season in program history – and had 244 made field goals – the fourth most in program history and the most by a Valpo player since 1971-72.
The Edmonton native finished the season with 1,596 points, seventh on the program’s all-time scoring list. He closed the campaign with a career field-goal percentage of 54.1, the sixth highest in program history. In addition, Krikke wrapped up the season with 632 career made field goals, a total that ranks sixth in Valpo lore.
Krikke became just the third Missouri Valley Conference player since 2005 to average at least 17 points and five boards while shooting better than 75 percent from the line and 50 percent from the field, joining Missouri State’s Isiaih Mosley and Creighton’s Doug McDermott. He scored in double figures in 30 of his 32 games including 13 outputs of 20 points or more and 26 games with 15 points or more. He finished the season with 20 consecutive double-figure scoring outputs and was in double figures in all 20 league games.
NCAA DIVISION I
Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Ben Vander Plas, University of Virginia
FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Dalton Bolon College of Charleston Gr. 4.00/3.83 Biology (UG) / Biology (G) / Communication (G)
Matt Dentlinger (2, 6) South Dakota State University Gr. 3.99/4.00 Mechanical Engineering (UG) / Electrical Eng. (G)
Marcus Domask Southern Illinois University Sr. 3.99 Sport Administration
JT Shumate (1) University of Toledo Sr. 3.84 Middle Childhood Education
Kahliel Spear (2) Robert Morris University Sr. 3.91 Economics
Ben Vander Plas (1, 5) University of Virginia Gr. 3.99/4.00 Communication Studies (UG) / Sports Admin & Mgmt. (G) / Professional Learner at UVA
SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Kobe Brown University of Missouri Sr. 3.59 General Studies
Alex Gross Morehead State University Gr. 4.00/4.00 Sport Management
Ben Krikke Valparaiso University Sr. 3.79 Finance
Chris Ledlum (3) Harvard University Sr. 3.55 Sociology
THIRD TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Brandon Angel Stanford University Jr. 3.97 Economics
Josh Bannan (3) University of Montana Jr. 3.92 Economics
Tanner Groves (1) University of Oklahoma Gr. 3.89/4.00 Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership
Michael Jones Stanford University Gr. 3.90 M.S. Statistics
Hunter Tyson Clemson University Gr. 3.55/3.90 Sports Communications (UG) / Athletic Leadership (G)
(1) - 1st team Academic All-America® in 2021-22
(2) - 2nd team Academic All-America® in 2021-22
(3) - 3rd team Academic All-America® in 2021-22
(4) - 1st team Academic All-America® in 2020-21
(5) - 2nd team Academic All-America® in 2020-21
(6) - 3rd team Academic All-America® in 2020-21