Soccer junior named Academic All-District first team

Junior midfielder Tyler McCarroll’s statistics are not the highest on the team.

This season, he started one game, came off the bench in eight others, recorded zero shots and has yet to record any points.

Tuesday, his 3.9 cumulative GPA became McCarroll’s strongest statistic.

The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced that the Carmel, Ind. native was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-District first team.
McCarroll’s name now appears on the national ballot for the ESPN Academic All-America team consideration, which will be announced Nov. 17.

“It honestly means a lot,” he said. “A major goal of mine coming in was to be an Academic All-American, so it is a dream to get the chance.”

McCarroll is a biology major and plans to attend medical school following his undergraduate career at IU.

On the field, McCarroll’s role is to be a fresh pair of legs off the bench that provides speed and aggressiveness on the left side.

However, he said his greatest accomplishment is what he does off the field, particularly in regards to being a role model for younger teammates.

“A few guys on the team might realize, ‘Wow, this kind of stuff can happen,’” he said. “So it might be further motivation for them to do well in the classroom.”

McCarroll redshirted his freshman year and is in his third year of eligibility out of four.
All the while, he said, being named to the All-District first team and having a chance to reach his goal of Academic All-American status reinforces and legitimizes his years of hard work in the classroom and on the practice field.

“It demonstrates the effort I put into school with the effort I put into soccer,” he said. “It is further motivation to keep doing well in school. To get any recognition is a great feeling.”

— Kevin Loughery