One district, three conferences, dozens of teams, hundreds of players. Yet Hillsdale students Senior Megan Fogt and Junior Kyle Cooper both earned the Academic All-District Award based on their impressive GPAs and outstanding athletic ability.
Though only five men and five women in the district can win the academic award, Sports Information Director Bradley Monastiere nominated Fogt and Cooper for the Capital one CoSIDA Academic All-District Award; because both were selected, they are now eligible for All-American Academic Awards.
“I am particularly pleased that two of our athletes were recognized in this fashion. Hillsdale College students have the deck stacked against them when it comes to academic awards like this. Rarely is the academic rigor of Hillsdale taken into consideration by voters for awards like this. [Kyle and Megan] richly deserve this recognition for all their hard work and achievement, both on and off the court,” Monastiere said in an email.
The award requires a GPA of 3.3, and award winners tend to be remarkable in their respective sport as well. Though all Division II athletes in the District Four are eligible, three of the women winners are from the GLIAC, and all five of this year’s men winners participate in the GLIAC.
Fogt currently carries a 3.9 GPA and has already been awarded GLIAC North Division Player of the Week twice this year. She is majoring in exercise science and plans to attend Ohio State University to become an occupational therapist in the fall.
“I worked really hard because I wanted to get into grad school,” Fogt said. She had no idea that she had been nominated for the award until she won it.
“I found out through twitter. I think Brad Monastiere tweeted something and that’s how I found out. I don’t even think my coaches knew,” Fogt said.
Cooper is the GLIAC’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder and holds one of the highest overall GPAs for any student athlete on campus, according to the GLIAC website. He’s the first player under head coach John Tharp to earn a position on the Academic All-District Team.
“[Cooper’s] the poster child of what our basketball program stands for and what college athletics should be about,” Tharp said.
“For me, my brother, and my sister, academics were the first and foremost thing. My family has really been the pushing force,” Cooper said. His dad in particular pushed him to academic success by taking him to dinner when he returned with a good report card, or encouraging him to aim for a 97 percent when he came back with a 94 percent.
Both Fogt and Cooper believe their academic success stems from prioritizing and habit.
“All throughout high school, I was not that athletic. I did not ever see myself playing college, I didn’t even dream that that was possible, so basically I just focused academically. Coming here, having such a time commitment, was different because I didn’t have as much time as before, but I think it’s just engrained in my brain since I’ve been doing it so long—focusing so long,” Fogt said. She has no specific strategy, but earns good grades by “pushing through it” and taking detailed notes.
Likewise, Cooper’s good grades result from routine and genuine interest. He plans his schedule to have no classes in the afternoon, and Tharp claims that he has a “tremendous amount of curiosity.”
“We tell him he has to keep it simple around the coaching staff, though. He can’t get too complicated, or use more than two-syllable words,” Tharp said.
Fogt and Cooper respect each other’s success and acknowledge their hard work.
“Maybe I’m a nerd, but I just see [Kyle] as more of a nerd than me. I see him in AJ’s all the time, he’s always studying, always putting in the work,” Fogt said.
“It’s not like Meg’s been on my team, but Meg’s been a good friend, and she’s a hard worker in the classroom. It makes it easier to dedicate yourself to working harder when you see so many others around you do the same,” Cooper said.