Skidmore’s Ed Rupkus nets 2nd All-America
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.» Skidmore College junior guard Edvinas Rupkus was selected to the 2017-18 CoSIDA Academic AllAmerica® Division III Men’s Basketball team for the second straight year.
Rupkus was a first team selection after earning second team honors in 2016-17. He is the first Skidmore men’s basketball player to earn the honor twice and the first to be selected to the first team.
A total of 17 players were honored on the three teams, including six juniors and seven repeat honorees.
One of the top players in Division III, Rupkus averaged 22.0 points per game, scoring a season record 594 points. He is third on the Skidmore career scoring list with 1655 points, within 34 points of leader Brian Culkin ’01.
He led the Liberty League in five categories and ranked 17th nationally in free throws made (115) and 28th in points per game. As a guard he shot .505 from the floor and .826 from the free throw
line to go alone with 6.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
A double major in business and economics, Rupkus has a 3.92 grade point average. He had racked up numerous honors in three seasons including: 2018 Liberty League Player of the Year, 2018 NABC East Region First-Team selection, unanimous 2017 and 2018 All-Liberty League First Team, and 2016 Liberty League Rookie of the Year.
Skidmore finished 15-12, earning its ninth straight postseason appearance. In the Liberty League Tournament, the Thoroughbreds beat Ithaca College and Hobart College to advance to the championship game against eventual champion Union College.
The team is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.