David Lands Spot on CSC Academic All-America First-Team

2024 CSC Academic All-America Baseball Teams | TU Honors Page

AUSTIN, Texas – Junior third baseman Mason David added to his host of honors by landing a spot on the 2024 Academic All-America Baseball First-Team as selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC).

CSC announced its Academic All-America Teams in baseball across all NCAA and NAIA levels Tuesday, with just 0.2 percent of collegiate baseball players earning the distinction.

The prestigious list of 2024 NAIA Baseball Academic All-Americans includes only 23 student-athletes, and David is one of just 11 First-Team members, including being the lone Crossroads League representative.

On the diamond, David notched 76 total hits for a .364 batting average with 21 doubles, 10 home runs, 52 RBI and 68 runs scored while starting all 58 games as Taylor's primary third baseman. Those numbers, which were scattered among the CL's bests, helped David claim All-Crossroads League First-Team, Player of the Year and Gold Glove honors, as well as an NAIA All-American Third-Team nod.

In the classroom, David's 3.98 GPA stands as the fourth highest among the 11 selected NAIA Baseball First-Team Academic All-Americans. The near-flawless GPA as a biology major also sits well above the NAIA Baseball Academic All-America Team average of 3.82.

Taylor student-athletes have now combined for 135 CSC Academic All-American honors in school history, with 133 of those awards coming since 2010. The TU baseball program has accounted for 17 of those honors, five of which have come in the past three seasons. 

David's selection as a First-Team Academic All-American is the first for the Trojan baseball program since two-way player Andrew Kennedy garnered his first-team spot in 2020. The honor also marks the second CSC Academic All-America award (any team) earned across Taylor athletics in the 2023-24 year.

The CSC Academic All-American distinction is designed to recognize student-athletes for outstanding achievements both in the classroom and on the field. Minimum requirements to be considered for the 2023-24 Academic All-America program include achieving sophomore status academically, maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher and, for baseball position players, either playing in at least 90 percent of one's respective team's games, or starting in at least 66 percent of said games.