NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – The Atlantic 10 Conference announced Monday that 3,849 student-athletes received Commissioner's Honor Roll distinction in the 2020-21 academic year. The increase of 84 honorees over the 2019-20 is impressive given that student-athletes had additional academic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
George Mason had the second-most honorees behind Massachusetts (333) with a department record 332 student-athletes honored, topping last year's record of 315. Fordham was third with 319 student-athletes honored, and Davidson (312) was fourth. Mason had 218 student-athletes with a 3.5 GPA or better and 23 with a 4.0 GPA.
 
There were an amazing 359 student-athletes that achieved a 4.0 GPA in 2020-21, representing 9.3 percent of the total number of honorees and is three percent higher than 2019-20. There were also 2,672 student-athletes (69.5 percent of all Commissioner's Honor Roll selections) with a 3.5 GPA or better. Additionally, the average number of honorees per school was 275, also a conference record.
 
"Another record-setting number of student-athletes achieved the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll, which is even more impressive due to an atypical learning environment caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic," stated A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. "It's extraordinary that almost 10 percent of our honorees had perfect 4.0 GPAs and almost 70 percent were at 3.5 GPAs or better.  I commend & congratulate our student-athletes for their hard work and our member institutions for their commitment to the academic success of all students."
 
Designed to recognize excellence in the classroom, a student-athlete in an Atlantic 10-sponsored sport must have a 3.0 GPA for the academic year to be selected for the Commissioner's Honor Roll. Freshmen and graduate students are eligible to receive the award.
 
The top three women's sports were women's cross country/track & field with 463 honorees, women's soccer (351 honorees) and women's lacrosse (301 honorees). The top three men's sports are men's cross county/track & field (383 honorees), baseball (331 honorees) and men's soccer (282 honorees).
 
The class is made up of 17.9 percent (688 total honorees) freshmen, 25.4 percent (978 total) sophomores, 24.0 percent (922 total) juniors and 27.5 percent (1,058 total) seniors. There were 203 graduate students honored, comprising 5.2 percent of the class.