Utah senior Spencer Toone has been named an ESPN The Magazine second-team Academic All-American by vote of the nation's sports information directors . Toone, who received a bachelor's degree in speech communication (3.78 GPA) last May, enrolled in the MBA program fall semester.
Also winning ESPN The Magazine honors was Ute senior center Jesse Boone, who made the all-District VIII team. Like Toone, he received a bachelor's degree in May 2004 and started the MBA program this past fall. Boone graduated with a double major in economics and business administration (3.48 GPA).
Toone and Boone were both 2005 first-team all-conference picks and three-year starters. Toone led the Mountain West Conference in total tackles with 113.
In October, former Ute quarterback Alex Smith received the nation's top academic award for the 2004-05 school year. Smith, a Heisman Trophy finalist and the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NFL draft, was voted the ESPN The Magazine (CoSIDA) Academic All-American of the Year.
Smith earned a bachelor's degree in economics (3.74 GPA) in just two years and had begun work on an MBA when he led Utah to a 12-0 record and a Fiesta Bowl victory. Smith was the second Ute in three years to win the Academic All-American of the Year Award, which is chosen from more than 360,000 NCAA athletes. In 2002-03, Ute three-time NCAA champion gymnast Theresa Kulikowski won the honor. Kulikowski, a 13-time All-American, graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA.