Pinto Named ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-American
STARKVILLE, MISS. - Mississippi State graduating tennis player Jose-Carlos Pinto was named a 2006 ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-American announced Tuesday. Pinto is among 16 male athletes nationwide competing in 12 different sports that received first team honors.
A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Pinto has a cumulative 3.99 GPA as a banking and finance major. Pinto is a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete selection and has been named to the Academic All-SEC team twice. He was MSU's male nominee for the Boyd H. McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Award (top scholar-athlete in the SEC) this past season. He was this year's Hallbrook Award winner as MSU's top male student athlete this past year and was also named to the 2006 SEC Good Works Team.
As a three-year letterwinner at State, Pinto was a key to the Bulldogs' success. This past season, Pinto played at the top of State's doubles and singles lineup. He clinched two wins for MSU this season including the upset of #20 LSU in the SEC Tournament. Pinto's most success came in doubles during his career. In 2004-05, he reached a top-10 national ranking in doubles as well as a top-100 ranking in singles.
"I could not be more proud of Ze," said MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard. "He was our biggest leader this year on the court and also managed great results in the classroom. This award shows that he is one of the top student-athletes in the country."
Pinto joins former Bulldog netters Kristean Broems (1996) and Marco Baron (2001) to earn First-Team Academic All-American honors.