Washington State’s Jeff Pollard named to Pac-12 All-Academic First Team for second straight year

Washington State’s Jeff Pollard was one of six players named to the All-Pac-12 Men’s Basketball All-Academic First Team, the conference announced Tuesday.

It’s the second straight All-Academic selection for Pollard, a junior forward from Bountiful, Utah, majoring in business with an emphasis on management/operations. A communications minor, Pollard’s carrying a 3.73 grade point average.

The Cougars have had at least one player recognized as a Pac-12 All-Academic honoree in each of Ernie Kent’s five years at the WSU helm. Pollard’s selection marks the fourth straight year a WSU player has been named to the first team and the 29th selection for the Cougars.

Pollard’s started at forward in all but six of WSU’s 28 games this season, averaging 4.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. He plands to graduate after his junior year and will pursue a master’s degree during the 2019-20 school year.

An athlete must carry a minimum 3.0 GPA and be either a starter or significant contributor to their team in at least their second year at the respective school.

Pollard was accompained on the first team by Arizona’s Chase Jeter, Oregon State’s Gligorije Rakocevic, Zach Reichle and Stephen Thompson Jr., and Stanford’s Isaac White.