University of Northern Colorado Athletics
UNC Places 21 on NFCC Academic Teams
4/2/2025 2:39:00 PM | Football
River Stout Named a Scholar-Athlete of the Year Finalist
DENVER – River Stout was named as a finalist for the 2024 Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, chapter officials announced Tuesday.
Stout led the Bears, which placed 21 student-athletes on the teams, with a 3.92 grade-point average. The junior wide receiver from Thornton, Colo., averaged 13.7 yards per reception, with a season-long of 22 yards at Colorado State.
UNC student-athletes recorded a 3.53 GPA.
All told, 279 student-athletes were named Academic All-Colorado (a record 192 first-team, 87 honorable mention); the 291 honored in 2023 set the high mark.
The Colorado Chapter selected a recipient for the award for the last 12 years when it also created the Academic All-Colorado team. The chapter board votes for the Scholar-Athlete recipient, while schools submit qualifiers for the academic team. The criteria to qualify were cumulative grade point averages of 3.3 or higher for first-team status (3.0-3.29 for honorable mention and if they were considered regular performers in any/all three phases of the game; GPAs are cumulative and through the fall 2024 semester.
Eight of the 10 football playing colleges in the state submitted a nomination and all were deemed finalists for the prestigious honor. Those included Kash Bradley (Colorado Mesa), Joel Diaz (Colorado Mines), Ricky Freymond (Western Colorado), Travis Hunter (Colorado), Jon Nuschy (CSU Pueblo), River Stout (Northern Colorado) and Christopher Thomas, Jr. (Fort Lewis). The average grade point average for the 10 computed to 3.76.
Academic All-Colorado First Team
Academic All-Colorado Honorable Mention
Stout led the Bears, which placed 21 student-athletes on the teams, with a 3.92 grade-point average. The junior wide receiver from Thornton, Colo., averaged 13.7 yards per reception, with a season-long of 22 yards at Colorado State.
UNC student-athletes recorded a 3.53 GPA.
All told, 279 student-athletes were named Academic All-Colorado (a record 192 first-team, 87 honorable mention); the 291 honored in 2023 set the high mark.
The Colorado Chapter selected a recipient for the award for the last 12 years when it also created the Academic All-Colorado team. The chapter board votes for the Scholar-Athlete recipient, while schools submit qualifiers for the academic team. The criteria to qualify were cumulative grade point averages of 3.3 or higher for first-team status (3.0-3.29 for honorable mention and if they were considered regular performers in any/all three phases of the game; GPAs are cumulative and through the fall 2024 semester.
Eight of the 10 football playing colleges in the state submitted a nomination and all were deemed finalists for the prestigious honor. Those included Kash Bradley (Colorado Mesa), Joel Diaz (Colorado Mines), Ricky Freymond (Western Colorado), Travis Hunter (Colorado), Jon Nuschy (CSU Pueblo), River Stout (Northern Colorado) and Christopher Thomas, Jr. (Fort Lewis). The average grade point average for the 10 computed to 3.76.
Academic All-Colorado First Team
| Ryan Capasso | Sr. | DL | 3.33 | Business Administration |
| Cash Cheeks | Sr. | TE | 3.50 | Sport and Exercise Science |
| Peter Costelli | So. | QB | 3.54 | Art & Design |
| Erza Ekuban | So. | DL | 3.68 | Sport and Exercise Science |
| Hank Gibbs | Jr. | QB | 3.43 | Business Administration |
| Hunter Green | So. | P/PK | 3.56 | Business Administration |
| Keenan Guthrie | Jr. | LB | 3.82 | Sport and Exercise Science |
| Levi Johnson | So. | OL | 3.70 | Physics |
| Keyvon Lakes | Sr. | LB | 3.67 | Sport Coaching |
| Aidan Moe | So. | OL | 3.44 | Sport and Exercise Science |
| Brayden Munroe | So. | WR | 3.87 | Business Administration |
| Micah Nanninga | Jr. | OL | 3.40 | Economics |
| Zach Nowatzke | Jr. | LB | 3.84 | Sport and Exercise Science |
| Zachary Pekarek | So. | DB | 3.77 | Business Administration |
| KJ Smedley | So. | LB | 3.42 | Sport and Exercise Science |
| River Stout | Jr. | WR | 3.92 | Sport and Exercise Science |
Academic All-Colorado Honorable Mention
| Ryder MacGillivray | Jr. | WR | 3.20 | Sociology |
| Darren Mercer | Sr. | DB | 3.21 | Criminology & Criminal Justice |
| Mathias Price | Fr. | RB | 3.25 | Sport and Exercise Science |
| Adrian Rabun | Jr. | OL | 3.25 | Sport and Exercise Science |
| Jack Ziebell | So. | OL | 3.26 | Sport and Exercise Science |
Players Mentioned
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