AUSTIN, Texas --- Moravian College senior defensive back/linebacker Nick Zambelli has been named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America NCAA Division III Football First Team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for the second consecutive year.
"Being named First Team Academic All-American for a second straight year is outstanding," stated Head Football Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "Nick has been a leader since the day he stepped on campus. Nick's discipline, work ethic, and selfless attitude enabled him to be the best in the classroom as well as the football field. We always talk about having high character, over achieving in both the classroom and football field, and having future successes when you leave Moravian. Nick has mastered the first two goals and his future successes are right on the horizon."
To be eligible for Google Cloud Academic All-America® honors, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.30 grade-point average, be a sophomore, junior or senior and be a starter or significant reserve. Zambelli made the national ballot after earning his third Academic All-District IV honor, and District IV is NCAA Division III schools from Pennsylvania. Zambelli is one of three Centennial Conference student-athletes to earn Academic All-America honors, joining Anthony Davidson and David Tammaro from Johns Hopkins University.
Zambelli, who was named to the Academic All-America First Team a year ago, earned Moravian's 51st Google Cloud Academic All-American® selected by CoSIDA honor. He is the 11th Greyhound to earn multiple Academic All-America honors and just the third to earn First Team accolades twice. The only other two-time Academic All-American from the football program is Mike Paciulli '96, who made the Second Team in 1995 and First Team in 1996.
Zambelli is majoring in Economics and Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics at Moravian, and he has a 4.00 GPA. This fall, Zambelli moved to a hybrid defensive back/linebacker position from safety the last three years and finished fifth on the squad with 54 tackles including 28 solo stops and one and a half tackles for loss despite missing a game with an injury. He also had two passes defended including one interception and a forced fumble. Zambelli, who served as a two-year captain and four-year starter at Moravian, contributed 218 tackles with 134 solo stops, eight interceptions, 19 passes defended, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, two and a half tackles for loss and one sack in 40 career games. He was also selected to the 2017 Centennial All-Conference Second Team.
Off the field, Zambelli is the three-time member of the Centennial Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll and he was selected as both the 2017 Centennial Conference Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the 2017-18 Centennial Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was on the 2017 Fall All-Centennial Conference Team for student-athletes that earn both All-Conference and Academic Honor Roll accolades.
Zambelli works with the 5 Star Heart project – weekly visits to local middle schools to engage with mentees, monthly mentor session involving a workout and discussion of program material, assist with clean up and remodel of Bethlehem Boys & Girls Club, coaches youths at various one-day camps. He has participated in Read Across America, in the Greyhounds' Be the Match Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive, Moravian's Heritage Day of Community Service, spending time at Traditions of Hanover (retirement facility) for events such as bingo, spring fling and board game night, helping to tutor teammates and working at the Bethlehem Boys & Girls Club.
To view all of the CoSIDA Academic All-America Division III Football teams, visit https://academicallamerica.com/news/2018/12/12/2018-google-cloud-academic-all-america-ncaa-division-iii-football-team-announced.aspx.
