June 4, 2012

CHARLOTTE -- Charlotte junior third baseman Shane Basen (Waxhaw, N.C. / Marvin Ridge HS) was recently named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Second Team, becoming the third player in team history to be named an Academic All-American (Steve Wagoner, 1987 & 88, Mike Ambrose, 2006).

The team was selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Basen had previously been named Academic All-District Three, the sixth player in team history to earn that honor, advancing him to the national ballot. He was named to the last two Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference teams.

Basen sports a 3.96 grade point average in accounting, in addition to leading the 49ers with 45 RBI (fourth-most in the league) and an Atlantic 10 Conference-leading five triples. He turned career-high totals of 65 hits and a .327 batting average. His 23 RBI in conference games was the second-highest total by any conference player this season. He also had Charlotte’s only five-RBI game. Basen was a two-time league Player of the Week. He has been on the Chancellor's List in all five semesters at Charlotte and earned Academic All-Conference in 2011 and 2012. He has started all but one game at third base for Charlotte in the past two seasons and has started all but one of the 49ers last 115 games, dating back to 2010.

Basen is Charlotte’s 37th Academic All-American, and the 49ers have had a student-athlete achieve this honor for the eighth consecutive season. The 49ers had 10 Academic All-Americans before 2002, when the Athletic Academic Center opened, with 27 nods to 17 different student-athletes in the past 11 seasons. Capital One became the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA's Academic All-America teams programs in 2011.

About the Academic All-America® Program
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 (www.cosida.com) has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.