Inquirer Names McCormick Academic Performer of the Year
PHILADELPHIA -- Swarthmore center Ian McCormick (Seattle, Wash. / University Prep) was named Philadelphia Inquirer Men’s Basketball Academic Performer of the Year by the Philadelphia-Area Sports Information Directors Association (Philly-SIDA).
McCormick was joined on the Academic All-Star winter teams by Swarthmore swimmers Doug Gilchrist-Scott (Canton, Ohio / Hoover), John Heagy (Coraopolis, Pa. / Sewickley Academy), Allie Jordan (Niskayuna, N.Y.), Jennie Lewis (Darien, Conn. / Darien) and Stephen Shymon (San Diego, Calif. / Univ. of San Diego).
In order to be eligible for the All-Area team, an athlete must be of sophomore athletic standing, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, and be a starter or key reserve. Ballots for the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Teams, which sponsored six teams (men’s at-large, women’s at-large, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s swimming and women’s swimming) this winter, were compiled and voted upon by the 28 Philadelphia-Area Sports Information Directors Association (Philly-SIDA) and the results were printed in the April 20 edition of the paper.
McCormick, a senior, started all 25 games this season and became the first Centennial player to average 20 points per game (20.6 per game) and also grab 10 rebounds per game (10.2 per game) in the same season. He was named First Team All-Centennial, Second Team ECAC South Region All-Star, and was selected for the John McAdams Philadelphia-Area Small College Coaches Association All-Star team. McCormick posted career-highs in seven categories: points (516), rebounds (254) blocks (71), assists (55), field-goal percentage (48.1%), three-pointers (25), and made free throws (113). He ranked second in the Conference in points per game and rebounds, while finishing third in blocks per game (2.8) and fourth in three-point field-goal percentage (42.4%).
McCormick put together the best career by a Swarthmore post player, setting a new school record for blocks in a season (71) while breaking the career records for rebounds (797) and blocks (193). He is the first male player in Swarthmore history and third in Conference history, to accumulate 1,500 points and 700 rebounds in a career. His single-season totals for points and rebounds both rank second all-time for Garnet men’s basketball.
McCormick has received a handful of honors for his play, on and off the court. He was twice named Conference Player of the Week and to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week, and received the Sam Cozen Award from the Philadelphia-area Small College Coaches Association. The economics major was also named to ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District second team.
McCormick is the seventh Swarthmore student-athlete overall (second in 2007-08) to be named Academic Performer of the Year, joining Vernon Chaplin ’07 (cross country/track & field), Reuben Heyman-Kantor ’06 (men’s soccer), Frank Mazzucco ’08 (men’s lacrosse), Cait Mullarkey ’09 (women’s soccer) and Eric Zwick ’07 (golf).