MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior Austin Budke was rewarded for his excellence in the classroom on Friday, as he was one of five players named to the College Sports Information Director of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 7 Men’s Basketball First Team.
A 6-foot-6, 227-pound forward from Beloit, Kansas, Budke now advances to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.
A member of the NABC Honors Court in 2015-16, Budke has seen action in 49 games the past year and half since transferring from Hutchinson Community College in the summer of 2015. The senior has played in 16 games this season, averaging 1.1 points and 0.3 rebounds in 4.6 minutes per game. He saw action in all 33 games in 2015-16, averaging 2.3 points on 38.2 percent shooting with 2.0 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game.
A former walk-on, Budke was awarded an athletic scholarship for the remainder of the season on Jan. 18.
Budke is the second straight men’s basketball player to earn recognition to the Academic All-District 7 First Team after Brian Rohleder was selected for the honor in 2016.
Budke, along with current walk-on Zach Winter, helped Hutchinson Community College post a 55-14 overall record from 2013-15, including 29 victories and the No. 6 seed in the NJCAA National Tournament in 2014-15. He was one of only two Blue Dragons to start all 35 games as a sophomore in 2014-15, averaging 12.7 points on 47 percent shooting with 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 28.6 minutes per game. He was honored with the NJCAA Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence after ending his freshman season with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The chemical engineering major and product of Beloit High School has appeared on each of the last three Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, including posting a perfect 4.0 GPA for the Fall 2016 semester. He has won the team’s Keith Amerson Academic Award as a junior in 2016.
K-State (16-8, 5-6 Big 12) returns to action on Saturday with a trip to Morgantown, W.Va., to face No. 13/14 West Virginia (19-5, 7-4 Big 12) at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.