RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University men’s tennis player Alex Das was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District at-large first team today as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Das was one of four OVC student-athletes to make this list.

As a member of the District IV first team, Das will advance to the national ballot and have a chance to earn Academic All-America honors. The native of Valencia, Spain also earned a spot on the 2009 Academic All-District at-large second team.

On the tennis court this spring, Das became the first Colonel to win the OVC Men’s Player of the Year award since 1975. The junior was 5-0 against OVC opponents and 10-3 overall at No. 1 singles. This past fall, Das won two singles titles – the UTC Baras Fall Tennis Classic and the Louisville Winter Invitational. In three years as Eastern’s top player, Das is 17-2 in league matches.

In the classroom, Das was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, a national student-athlete honor society, earlier this month and currently carries a 4.0 grade point average while majoring in aviation. After graduation, Das hopes to become an airline pilot.

Eligible sports for the men’s at-large competition include fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. Eastern Kentucky University is a part of CoSIDA District IV which includes all Division I institutions in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

To be nominated, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.3 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for his/her career. No athlete is eligible until he/she has reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution (thus, true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible transfers are not eligible). In the cases of transfers, graduate students and junior college graduates, the athlete must have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution to be eligible.

The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America at-large team will be announced on Tuesday, June 8.