Aug. 13, 2002

In addition to the success it enjoyed on the field in the first season under head coach Fran O'Leary, the George Mason men's soccer team also enjoyed success in the classroom in 2001-02. For the Spring 2002 semester, the Patriots had the highest grade point average among men's teams with a 3.098 GPA, and the team stood as the best among the men at 2.983 for the entire 2001-02 year. An overall GPA of 3.0 would have qualified the men's soccer team for inclusion as an NSCAA/adidas College Team Academic Award recipient, which recognizes the top academic programs across the country. Only 20 men's soccer teams in Division I (among 197) earned this honor last year.

A total of 11 Patriots earned a GPA of 3.0 or better to earn a spot on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for the spring semester. These included Danny Climo, Gilbert Gaertner, Andrei Gugiu, John Harrington, Rob Klug, Mirza Kurspahic, Will Lozano, Keith Nakai, John O'Hara, Paul Ondiak and Radovan Pletka. Harrington, Klug, Kurspahic, Lozano, Nakai and Ondiak also were named to the Dean's List (3.5 GPA or higher) and Klug finished the semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

At the conclusion of the academic year, Klug, O'Hara and Ondiak were honored as Colonial Athletic Association Scholar-Athletes for compiling a 3.2 GPA (either cumulative or for the current academic year) and earning a letter in a CAA-sponsored sport.

Gavin Stevens received another academic honor as he was named to the CoSIDA/Verizon Academic All-America team for District III (schools in the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia). Stevens graduated in December 2001 with a degree in psychology after posting a 4.0 GPA in each of his last four semesters.