2009 Men's Basketball Academic All-America Teams

Chris Bach All-Region poster.pdf?id=362">Chris Bach Academic All-America Poster

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University's Chris Bach has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Men's Basketball Academic All-America third team, it was announced late Wednesday.

Bach, a graduate student in Exercise Science after graduating summa cum laude with a degree in Sport Management in December, is the first ESU men's or women's basketball player to earn Academic All-America honors, and the 18th Warriors athlete to be recognized at the national level. He had a 3.82 grade-point average as an undergraduate at ESU and is in his first semester in graduate school.

A native of Levittown, Pa. and a 1996 graduate of Harry S Truman High School, Bach began his collegiate career at Philadelphia University during the 1996-97 season. He returned to school at ESU in the summer of 2006 after a decade away from the classroom and has been a three-year letterwinner for the Warriors. He was second team All-PSAC East in 2007-08 and is a likely first team selection this year after ranking in the top five in the PSAC in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots for much of the season.

The 31-year old Bach has made a significant impact on ESU's campus in his three years. He is the president of ESU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, has participated in the NCAA Leadership Conference, and was one of 27 ESU students named to the 2008 "Who's Who" directory of American Colleges and Universities.

Bach was a PSAC Winter Top 10 recipient last March which honors five male and five female student-athletes in the PSAC for combined academic and athletic excellence. He has also been nominated for the V Foundation's "Comeback Award" and the Coach John Wooden Citizenship Cup for his contributions to the campus community.

On the floor, the 6-8 forward has been one of the top players in Division II this season. He ranks in the top 50 in the nation in scoring, rebounding and blocks and is seventh among players in the top 75 in scoring with 152 made free throws. He is shooting 81.2 percent from the line this season after entering the year with a career percentage of 67.2.

Bach is one of two PSAC student-athletes named to the Academic All-America team, and the only one from a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). Kyle Goldcamp of Gannon, which joined the PSAC as a full member in 2008-09, has a 3.87 GPA in Pre-Medicine and was selected to the second team.

Bach was the only PSAC men's basketball named to the Academic All-District II team in each of the last two years, and advanced to the national ballot with first team honors this season.