Clegg Named College Sports Communicators Academic All-American Of The Year

STARKVILLE – For the third consecutive year, Mississippi State's Ford Clegg has been selected to the College Sports Communicators At-Large Academic All-America Team. Additionally, in his final year of athletic eligibility, Clegg has been tabbed as the organization's At-Large Academic All-American of the Year.

In each of the last two years, Clegg was the only Division I men's golfer in the nation to named a First Team Academic All-American. This year, he is one of four and the only member from the SEC. He is the only three-time winner on this year's first team and one of just three repeat winners from a year ago.

"What an incredible accomplishment it is to be named Academic All-American of the Year," head coach Dusty Smith said. "Ford has proved what is possible being a student-athlete at Mississippi State University. It takes a special type of person to accomplish what he has in our sport of golf and also in the classroom. I know he will go down as one of the great student-athletes in Mississippi State history. I am thankful I had the opportunity to coach Ford, and I couldn't be more proud of him."

Clegg won the NCAA Elite 90 Award this spring as the golfer with the highest career GPA at the NCAA Championships. The graduate student from Birmingham, Alabama, is pursuing an MBA after completing his undergraduate degree in finance in May 2022. He graduated summa cum laude and has maintained a career 4.0 GPA in both his undergraduate and graduate studies.

The Southeastern Conference's men's golf coaches have voted Clegg the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year three years in a row, making him just the second golfer in the conference's history to win the award three times.

"This means a lot to me and to Mississippi State University," Clegg said. "I have put many hours into being good at both golf and my academics to be well-rounded leaving college. We are all here to play at the highest level, but we are still students. Being able to excel in both has better prepared me to enter the real world, whether I have a successful career in professional golf or in the business world. Whatever path I may take, I know that MSU has done a great job in preparing me for the future."

On the course, Clegg has been one of the Bulldogs' statistical leaders in each season of his career. This year he helped MSU win its first NCAA Regional title while posting a 71.58 stroke average for the year with 20 par or better rounds in 36 rounds played. He claimed three top-five finishes in 2022-23.

Clegg won the Steelwood Intercollegiate in 2021-22, his third career individual victory along with the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate and the Steelwood again in 2020-21. He was a First Team All-SEC selection as a junior and earned a spot on the PING All-Region Team. His 71.17 stroke average that year ranked eighth in the SEC.

As his MSU career comes to a close, Clegg's name is littered throughout the Bulldog record book. He shot the second-lowest round and tied the lowest 54-hole total in school history. He holds two marks among the top 10 in single-season stroke average and his career average (71.75) is second in school history. Clegg holds the school record for career rounds played (155) and par or better rounds (80), and he is one of just six Bulldogs to win three or more individual titles in their career.

MSU now boasts five Academic All-Americans of the Year in its history. Along with Clegg, softball student-athletes Kate Jaspers (2003-04) and Chelsea Bramlett (2009-10) and baseball players Burke Masters (1988-89) and Joey Hamilton (1990-91) won the prestigious recognition.

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Mississippi State University Athletics

Clegg Named College Sports Communicators Academic All-American Of The Year

Players Mentioned

Ford Clegg

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