Tebow wins Academic All-American, tennis adds 7

Florida Gators senior quarterback Tim Tebow has been named the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American® of the Year winner for the second year in a row. The first student-athlete to win the award for University Division Football in two consecutive years, Tebow’s 3.7 grade point average and accomplishments on the football field earned him this honor.

Tebow became the first Florida student-athlete to earn first-team Academic All-America® honors in three consecutive years and the first Southeastern Conference football player to be chosen to the first team on three straight occasions. In his college career, he has also won the Heisman Trophy (2007), Davey O’Brien Award (2007) and Maxwell Award (2007, 2008). No other Gators were named to the team, though tight end Colin Peek (Alabama) also represented the SEC.

In other news… The University of Florida tennis program signed seven commitments on Tuesday with five going to the men’s team and two nationally-ranked players joining the women. Five-star recruits Michael Alford (Tampa, FL) and Andrew Butz (Vero Beach, FL) signed National Letters of Intent to join the team in fall 2010 while Sekou Bangoura, Jr. (Bradenton, FL), Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) and Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, FL) will compete with the team in the spring of 2010.

For the women, Alexandra Cercone (Seminole, FL) and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, FL) also signed National Letters of Intent for the 2010-11 season. Cercone and Janowicz are the No. 4 and 24 recruits in the country, according to tennisrecruiting.net.