West Virginia University linebacker Reed Williams, an All-BIG EAST performer, two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America selection and a member of the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Team, has been chosen as the 2009 BIG EAST Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The selection was made by the conference’s Academic Affairs Committee and is presented on the basis of academic credentials and athletic performance.

A graduate student from Moorefield, W.Va., Williams will receive a $2,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies. The Conference also announced the 106 players who were chosen to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team.

Williams has been a three-year starter at middle linebacker for West Virginia. He was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection in 2009 after he had 68 tackles, two sacks, six tackles for loss, and seven pass breakups and was chosen as the Mountaineers’ defensive MVP.

Williams, who missed the entire 2008 season with injuries to both shoulders, was the Defensive MVP of the 2007-08 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl after helping the Mountaineers to a 48-28 win against Oklahoma. He was a member of two BIG EAST championship teams, two teams that won BCS bowl games, three New Years Day bowl-winning teams and four bowl-qualifying teams.

In addition to his on-field accolades, Williams earned ESPN The Magazine Academic-All America First Team honors in 2007 and was named to the Second Team in 2009. He was one of 16 national finalists for the 2009 William V. Campbell Trophy as the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame national scholar-athlete of the year. He was named to West Virginia’s Dean’s List in each of his five academic years and is a four-time BIG EAST All-Academic selection.

Williams is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Golden Key national honor society. He has volunteered his time in a number of community service endeavors, including the West Virginia Boys and Girls Club, Special Olympics, and a Marion County Division of State Police child advocacy fundraiser.

Williams is the third West Virginia player in the last six years to be chosen as the BIG EAST Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Former Mountaineer offensive tackle Garin Justice won in 2005 and linebacker Jay Henry was the 2006 winner.

The BIG EAST Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the BIG EAST Conference during the 2009-10 academic year. Thirty-two student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST’s 16 member institutions) will receive postgraduate scholarships as the winners of their respective institutions’ Scholar-Athlete Award. The conference also names a male and female BIG EAST Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

The winners of the institutional, football and basketball awards are then eligible for the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which provides an additional postgraduate scholarship to one male and one female student-athlete.

• BIG EAST All-Academic Football Team*

Also Tuesday, the BIG EAST announced the 106 members of the 2009 BIG EAST All-Academic Football Team nominated by the respective institutions. To be nominated, a player must have a cumulative grade-point index of at least 3.0, have completed a minimum of two semesters of academic work. The WVU members are (click here see the full conference list):

WEST VIRGINIA

Maxwell Anderson Sr. FB/TE Morgantown, W.Va. Accounting
Don Barclay So. OL Cranberry, Pa. Business Management
Carmen Connolly Sr. WR Pittsburgh, Pa. Exercise Physiology
Zac Cooper Sr. LB Weirton, W.Va. Finance and Sociology
Eric Jobe Jr. OL La Plata, Md. Industrial Engineering
Scott Kozlowski Sr. P West Palm Beach, Fla. Business Management
Josh Lider Sr. K Bellevue, Wash. Pre-Medicine
Scott Loving Sr. TE/FB Lewisburg, W.Va. Exercise Physiology
Cody Nutter So. LS Parkersburg, W.Va. Physical Education Teaching
Keith Tandy So. DB Hopkinsville, Ky. Forensic and Investigative Sciences
Tyler Urban So. TE North Huntingdon, Pa. Finance
Reed Williams Sr. LB Moorefield, W.Va. Finance and Marketing

CONTACT: Chuck Sullivan, Director of Communications, BIG EAST Conference
401.453.0660, csullivan@bigeast.org