Washington University in St. Louis senior forward Matt Palucki, BSBA’15 & BS Engineering, was named to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-District Five Men’s Basketball First Team, as announced Feb. 5, 2015 by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Matt Palucki is double majoring in Finance at Olin and Systems Science and Engineering.
Palucki, who earned the honor for the second-straight year, is the sixth Washington U. men’s basketball student-athlete to earn Academic All-District accolades multiple times in a career. A three-time Academic All-University Athletic Association (UAA) selection, he has a 3.70 grade point average while majoring in systems engineering and finance.
Palucki has started 17 of 18 games for the Bears, and is averaging 16.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He has scored in double figures in all but two games, including a season-high 28 points vs. Trinity (Texas) Dec. 6 and vs. University of Rochester Jan. 18. Palucki has recorded seven double-doubles this season, and ranks first in the UAA in free-throw percentage (.889), fourth in scoring (16.5 ppg), fifth in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and ninth in three-pointers made (1.7).
With 18 points in a 90-72 win vs. then-No. 5 ranked Illinois Wesleyan University Dec. 13, Palucki became the 23rd player in school history to score 1,000 points in a career. Palucki is second in school history in free-throw percentage (.842), sixth in rebounds (672) and 18th in scoring (1,129).
In order to be selected to an academic all-district team, a student-athlete must demonstrate success on the playing field and in the classroom, with academic and athletic achievements taken into consideration. The student-athlete must possess a minimum 3.30 cumulative GPA and be at least a sophomore in academic standing. Palucki will be eligible to be selected to the Academic All-America Team, which will be announced on Tuesday, Feb. 23. – Bearsports.wustl.edu
