Kokoska, Wicks Earn CoSIDA Academic All-America Accolades
Jul 29, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State's Zach Kokoska and Jordan Wicks were each selected to the 2020-21 Academic All-America Second Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the organization announced Thursday.
Kokoska, who boasted a 3.85 grade-point average as a communication studies major, collects his second straight CoSIDA Academic All-District honor after posting a 4.0 GPA in the 2019-20 academic year. Wicks earns his first academic all-district honor, turning in a 3.69 GPA as a business administration major.
The pair mark K-State's first Academic All-America honorees since Jason King's selection in 2011. It is the first time K-State has landed multiple players on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team since the 1972 season, as Kokoska and Wicks are the 12th and 13th Academic All-America selections in program history.
Kokoska and Wicks were both voted CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team on July 1, and both have been Academic All-Big 12 First Team selections each of the last two seasons. The teammates also collected ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region First Team recognition.
Both players were selected in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft earlier this month, as Wicks became the program's highest-ever selection after being taken 21st overall by the Chicago Cubs. Kokoska was a 10th-round pick (No. 290 overall) of the Colorado Rockies.
Kokoska led the Wildcats in all three slash categories with a .363 average, .445 on-base percentage and .675 slugging percentage. The junior outfielder hit 15 home runs and drove in 46 runs with a team-best 19 doubles.
The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, product was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection and was voted onto the Big 12's All-Tournament Team following K-State's run to the semifinal round at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship.
Kokoska strung together a career-long 41-game on-base streak during the season, including a stretch of seven consecutive multi-hit games. His on-base streak marked the second-longest by a Wildcat in the Big 12 era.
Wicks, an All-America Third Team and All-Big 12 First Team selection, led the Wildcats with six victories to go with a 3.70 earned run average. Wicks struck out a single-season program record 118 batters to lead the Big 12 during the regular season. His 230 career strikeouts are the most in program history.
In 15 starts, Wicks turned in seven quality efforts, going at least five innings in every start last season. He totaled a team-high 92 1/3 innings, issuing just 28 walks, with opponents hitting .249 against him.
Wicks was twice named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and was tabbed NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week on February 24. His All-America honor was the first by a Wildcat since 2013.
K-State finished the 2021 season with a 34-23 record, its highest win total since 2013. The Wildcats advanced to the semifinal round of the 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship to mark their longest tournament run since making the title game in 2008.
Kokoska, who boasted a 3.85 grade-point average as a communication studies major, collects his second straight CoSIDA Academic All-District honor after posting a 4.0 GPA in the 2019-20 academic year. Wicks earns his first academic all-district honor, turning in a 3.69 GPA as a business administration major.
The pair mark K-State's first Academic All-America honorees since Jason King's selection in 2011. It is the first time K-State has landed multiple players on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team since the 1972 season, as Kokoska and Wicks are the 12th and 13th Academic All-America selections in program history.
Kokoska and Wicks were both voted CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team on July 1, and both have been Academic All-Big 12 First Team selections each of the last two seasons. The teammates also collected ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region First Team recognition.
Both players were selected in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft earlier this month, as Wicks became the program's highest-ever selection after being taken 21st overall by the Chicago Cubs. Kokoska was a 10th-round pick (No. 290 overall) of the Colorado Rockies.
Kokoska led the Wildcats in all three slash categories with a .363 average, .445 on-base percentage and .675 slugging percentage. The junior outfielder hit 15 home runs and drove in 46 runs with a team-best 19 doubles.
The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, product was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection and was voted onto the Big 12's All-Tournament Team following K-State's run to the semifinal round at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship.
Kokoska strung together a career-long 41-game on-base streak during the season, including a stretch of seven consecutive multi-hit games. His on-base streak marked the second-longest by a Wildcat in the Big 12 era.
Wicks, an All-America Third Team and All-Big 12 First Team selection, led the Wildcats with six victories to go with a 3.70 earned run average. Wicks struck out a single-season program record 118 batters to lead the Big 12 during the regular season. His 230 career strikeouts are the most in program history.
In 15 starts, Wicks turned in seven quality efforts, going at least five innings in every start last season. He totaled a team-high 92 1/3 innings, issuing just 28 walks, with opponents hitting .249 against him.
Wicks was twice named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and was tabbed NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week on February 24. His All-America honor was the first by a Wildcat since 2013.
K-State finished the 2021 season with a 34-23 record, its highest win total since 2013. The Wildcats advanced to the semifinal round of the 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship to mark their longest tournament run since making the title game in 2008.
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