TEMPE – Not to be overshadowed by five Big 12 Conference team – in addition to multiple individual – championships earned throughout the 2025-26 athletic calendar, Sun Devil Athletics also found great success in the classroom as well.
Everything from College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District and All-American status to Big 12 academic honors to a standout Academic Progress Rate (APR) rating, Arizona State student-athletes showed they could excel both on and off their respective playing surfaces.
Below are notable academic achievements earned by Sun Devil student-athletes throughout the 2025-26 athletic year:
1
To put a bow on the 2025-26 athletic year, Men's Swim and Dive student-athlete Jonny Kulow was selected by the Big 12 Conference as the men's honoree of the Bob Bowlsby Award, the highest honor a student-athlete in the conference can earn.
Kulow maintained a 4.0-or-higher GPA in all eight semesters at ASU, while also being selected as the Elite Scholar-Athlete at the NCAA Championship his senior season. He also completed his collegiate career as a four-time CSC Academic All-American.
2
Sun Devil Athletics featured two Big 12 Scholar-Athletes of the Year: Jonny Kulow (Men’s Swim and Dive) and Helen Park (Lacrosse).
Park, a redshirt-senior defender, tallied 11 ground balls and nine caused turnovers on the season, while maintaining a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. She joins Bella Ingrao (2025) as Sun Devil Lacrosse student-athletes to earn the league’s academic honor since Arizona State joined the Big 12 prior to the 2024-25 athletic year.
Kulow, while competing in all 10 regular season meets for the Sun Devils, posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in medical microbiology, while he and his teammates led their program to another conference championship.
3.689827
On April 8, the Sun Devil Wrestling team claimed the top spot among the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s Division I Men’s Team Scholar All-American Awards with a team GPA of 3.689827, edging Brown’s 3.6825 team GPA.
The Sun Devils saw 27 student-athletes earn a 3.0-or-better GPA, with 12 having a 3.50, two with a 4.0 and three completing a master’s program.
An additional 10 student-athletes were recognized as NWCA Scholar All-Americans, which tied Missouri for the most in the country. Of those 10, six were NCAA qualifiers.
5, Part I
On June 2, Vivian Ovrootsky, a graduate student in the ASU Women’s Tennis program, was named a Third Team CSC Academic All-American. It’s the first career CSC Academic All-American honor for Ovrootsky, a San Jose, Calif., native who maintained a 3.93 cumulative GPA while earning a master’s degree in business administration. She is the fifth Sun Devil in program history to be named a CSC Academic All-American and first since Domenika Turkovic and Marianna Argyrokastriti.
On the court, Ovrootsky, who was named the Big 12’s Newcomer of the Year, went 19-1 in dual matches and 18-0 during the regular season en route to helping the Sun Devils share the Big 12 regular season conference title. Her 31 wins in singles were tied for the third most in a single season in program history.
5, Part II
Vivian Ovrootsky was one of five Sun Devil student-athletes to earn CSC Academic All-American honors. Ovrootsky is joined by a trio from the Men’s Swim and Dive program – Jonny Kulow, Ilya Kharun and Andy Dobrzanski – as well as Keyshaun Elliott from the Football program.
Kulow and Elliott were both first team honorees, while Kharun and Dobrzanski were second team selections. Ovrootsky was selected to the third team.
9
On March 26, Jonny Kulow, a senior in the ASU Men’s Swim and Dive program, became the ninth different Sun Devil to earn the Elite Scholar-Athlete Award, which is awarded annually to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the finals site of their respective NCAA Championship. He competed at the NCAA Championship with a 4.00 GPA in Medical Microbiology.
Kulow, who concluded his four-year Sun Devil career as a 15-time CSCAA All-American, is the second consecutive Men’s Swim and Dive member to earn the award after Patrick Sammon was selected in 2024-25. Of the nine all-time Elite Scholar-Athlete Award winners for Arizona State, three – Kulow, Sammon and Tiago Behar (2023-24) – represented Men’s Swim and Dive, while Lindsay Looney (2023-24) picked up the honor for the Women’s Swim and Dive program.
10, Part I
For the 10th consecutive year, Arizona State has posted a 990-or-better APR.
Within the Big 12, nine teams were in first place for their APR multi-year average: beach volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, gymnastics, men’s swim and dive, softball and volleyball.
Eight Sun Devil teams have continued streaks of perfect multi-year scores: men’s golf, women’s golf, gymnastics, beach volleyball, softball, men’s cross country, volleyball and women’s cross country.
Football posted a program-best 997 APR, surpassing the previous mark of 990 set in 2014-15.
Since the APR measurement was implemented in 2003, ASU’s average for all sports has increased from its first multi-year score of 937 to its current mark of 990.
10, Part II
Ten student-athletes within the Sun Devil Hockey program were named to the 2025-26 NCHC Academic All-Conference Team for demonstrating excellence on the ice and in the classroom.
Of those 10, seven were recognized as NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, which is awarded to student-athletes who have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.5-or-better.
39
Thirty-nine different Sun Devil student-athletes earned CSC Academic All-District honors for the 2025-26 athletic year.
93
For the third year in a row, Sun Devil Athletics matched its all-time high with a 93 Graduation Success Rate (GSR) percentage for its student-athletes. Arizona State has either maintained or surpassed its all-time best GSR every year since 2008.
Thirteen teams posted a GSR score of 100 percent, which is tied for the largest number of teams at 100 after the same number of programs reached the mark in 2023.
Since the metric was first introduced by the NCAA in 2005, Sun Devil Athletics’ GSR has risen 24 percent. Among women student-athletes, GSR is 97 percent, their eighth year in a row at 95 percent of better. For men, it’s the fifth year at 89 percent of better.
172
One hundred and seventy-two student-athletes graduated from Arizona State University for the 2025-26 school year.
Of those 172 honorees, 16 were from the Tip of the Fork program – a program that encourages high-performing Sun Devil student-athletes to redefine their standard of excellence by providing experiences and education to become transformative leaders in their community – graduates.
Eighty-eight (or 51.1 percent) student-athletes graduated with honors.
314
Arizona State had 314 different student-athletes earn All-Big 12 Academic Honors throughout the 2025-26 athletic year. 21 Sun Devil athletic programs were represented.
Of those 314 student-athletes, 60 finished their respective semester with a 4.0 GPA.