The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Dickson named Big 12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year
12.08.2017 | Football
Dickson is recognized because of his achievements in the classroom and on the field.
IRVING, Texas – Junior punter Michael Dickson was named Big 12 Conference Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Friday. A native of Sydney, Australia, Dickson holds a 3.53 grade point average and is a finance major in the prestigious McCombs School of Business.
The accolades continue to add up for Dickson, who was named the 2017 Ray Guy Award winner on Thursday night in Atlanta. That award honors the nation's best punter. He was also named a first team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on Thursday evening. Last week, Dickson was named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year and first team All-Big 12 at punter.
Dickson, who leads the country averaging 48.4 yards per punt in 2017, is on pace to break the Big 12 record in that category and is chasing the NCAA record. Mark Mariscal (Colorado, 2002) owns the Big 12 Conference record for single-season punting average at 47.6. The FBS single-season record for punting average is 48.4 yards (min. 50 attempts) or 47.8 yards (min. 75 attempts).
He has punted 73 times this season, with 34 punts of more than 50 yards and 32 punts downed inside the 20. Dickson is a three-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree, landing on the first team in each of the past two seasons and being named to the Rookie team as a freshman in 2015. Dickson is the first Longhorn to earn the distinction as the Big 12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The Big 12 Conference established its Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in 2012-13. A recipient is named in each conference-sponsored sport. Every Big 12 institution nominates one individual per sport with the winners selected by a vote of the league head coaches for that sport, who are not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes. Scholar-Athlete of the Year nominees must be a junior or senior (athletic and academic standing), have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher, participate in at least 20 percent of the team's scheduled contests and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution.
