GURLEY AND SMITH EARN COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
FLORENCE, Ala. -- University of North Alabama senior punter Joe Gurley of Killen, Ala., and senior defensive back K.J. Smith of Perry, Ga., have been named to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 Football Team.

The 2020-21Academic All-District®Football Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes football honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot.

First-and second-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in early July. The CoSIDA Academic All-District® teams are divided into geographic districts across the United States and Canada.

Gurley, a first-team All-Big South Conference punter in 2020, averaged 43.8 yards per punt on 18 punts with a long punt of 60 yards.  He had three kicks downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Only four of his punts were returned all season. A four-year starting punter with 179 punts, he was named to Phil Steele second-team All-Big South squad in 2019 and he has earned three Big South Player of the Week awards.

Gurley has a 3.91 cumulative grade point average in General Management and graduated from UNA in May. He will play in 2021 as a graduate student pursuing a Master's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in finance.

A graduate student at UNA working toward a Master of Science in Health and Human Performance degree, with a concentration in Exercise Science, Smith has a perfect 4.0 grade point average on the graduate level. He previously graduated with a 4.0 GPA while earning a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, with an emphasis on Health

He was selected Academic All-District for a second straight year.

A national finalist for the STATS FCS Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in 2019 and 2020, Smith was selected as the 2019-20 Big South Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was one of just 25 student-athletes from a field of more than 25,000 playing Division I FBS and FCS college football to be selected first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America® last season, becoming UNA's first Division I Academic All-America® selection in any sport since the Lions began their transition in 2018.
 and is a two-time national finalist for the STATS FCS Doris Robinson Award.

Smith finished the 2020 season as the team's fourth-leading tackler with 20 total stops. He had 12 solos and eight assists with one tackle for loss of 14 yards, one interception for 13 yards and two pass break-ups. A three-year starter at UNA, he has 123 career tackles to go with six interceptions for 102 yards and 15 break-ups.


NCAA DIVISION I–DISTRICT 4 (AL, FL, GA, PR, SC)
FIRST TEAM
Pos.NameSchoolYr.GPAMajor
QB    Mac Jones        Alabama        Gr.    4.00/4.00-Communications Studies(UG) /Sports Hospitality(G)
RB    Ezra Gray        Alabama State    Gr.    4.00/4.00-CIS (UG) / Applied Technologies (G)
RB    Adam Prentice        South Carolina    Gr.    3.33/3.60-Civil Engineering(G)
WR    Raleigh Webb        The Citadel    Gr.    3.72/4.00-MBA / Leadership(G)
WR    Luke Whittemore        Troy         Gr.    3.90/3.50-Sports Management
TE    Garrison Moore        Wofford         Sr.    3.86-Chemistry
OL    Brian Ankerson        South Alabama    Gr.    3.83/4.00-Criminal Justice (UG) / Public Administration (G)
OL    Steven Bedosky        Coastal Carolina    Gr.    3.83/3.75-Instructional Technology(G)
OL    Landon Dickerson    Alabama        Gr.    3.68/3.72-Sports Management (UG) /MBA(G)
OL    Ryan Johnson        Georgia Tech    Gr.    3.86/3.60-Analytics
OL    Austin Stidham        Troy         Sr.    3.90-Biology / Biomedical Sciences
K    Anders Carlson        Auburn         Gr.    3.92-Pro Flight Management/Aviation
DL    Marcus Cushine        Alabama A&M     Jr.    3.80-Criminal Justice
DL    Tarron Jackson        Coastal Carolina     Sr.    3.43-Mathematics
DL    Gi'Narious Johnson    South Alabama    Jr.    3.41-Professional Health Sciences
DL    Barron King        Mercer         Sr.    3.62-Marketing
LB    Luke Brasher        UAB        Sr.    3.81-Kinesiology/Exercise Science
LB    Nakobe Dean        Georgia        So.    3.53-Mechanical Engineering
LB    Silas Kelly        Coastal Carolina    Gr.    3.85/3.84-MBA(G)
DB    Derek Gainous        UCF        Sr.    3.64-Criminal Justice
DB    Kyle Nixon        Troy         Sr.    3.34-Business
DB    K.J. Smith        North Alabama    Gr.    4.00/4.00-Health(G)
DB    Alex Spillum        Coastal Carolina     Sr.    3.55-Communication
P    Joe Gurley        North Alabama    Sr.    3.91-General Management
P    Charles Ouverson    Coastal Carolina     Gr.    3.72/3.73-Information Technology(G).
ST    Jacob Fuqua        UAB        Gr.    3.69/4.00History (UG) / Education (G)
ST    Seth Glausier        Georgia State     So.    3.99-Business Management
ST    Bill Taylor        Auburn         Sr.    3.59-Agricultural Communications