AUSTIN, Texas – North Carolina Central University senior baseball student-athlete James Dey has become the first NCCU male student-athlete to be named to the Academic All-America® First Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced on Friday, June 3.

Dey joins senior softball student-athlete Jenny Tracy as the second student-athlete to earn Academic All-America® First Team honors in the Division I era at NCCU.

"James has been an outstanding scholar-athlete from day one,” NCCU Athletics Director Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree said.  “We are so very proud of his accomplishments and know that he will excel in his future professional endeavors."

Dey is the third NCCU male student-athlete at to be named to one of the three Academic All-America® teams in their respective sports, and he is the second baseball student-athlete to receive the honor.  Dey is the only student-athlete from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to be tabbed to one of the three teams, and from the state of North Carolina he is joined on the First Team by Matt Parrish of Campbell University.

Also on the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I Baseball First Team are: Thomas Hackimer (St. John’s (N.Y.)), Dylan Moore (Louisiana), Joey Roach (Georgia State), David McKinnon (Hartford), Caleb Stayton (Ball State), Clayton Taylor (Nebraska Omaha), Alex Call (Ball State), Cole Gruber (Nebraska Omaha) and Nolan Lodden (Valparaiso).

The Charlotte, North Carolina native graduated from NCCU with a degree in history in May, and during the school year earned the Chancellor’s Award as the male student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at 3.84.  Dey was also a member of the University Honors Program, and a three-time member of the MEAC All-Academic Team.

Dey played 149 games over his career and had a breakout season for the maroon and gray in 2016 as he had a career-high .329 batting average with 26 RBI.  He also collected career-best totals with seven doubles and five home runs, and knocked down his first career save over 14 appearances with 18 innings thrown.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.