All-conference selections Rutledge, Efford highlight the Jackets honored for classroom performance
THE FLATS – Thirteen Georgia Tech student-athletes are members of the 2024 All-Atlantic Coast Conference’s academic football team, the ACC announced on Friday.
Georgia Tech’s all-ACC academic team honorees are:
TE Josh Beetham (master’s – management)
PK Aidan Birr (business administration)
LB Kyle Efford (business administration)
LS Henry Freer (Ph.D. – chemical and biomolecular engineering)
OL Joe Fusile (civil engineering)
DB Syeed Gibbs (literature, media and communication)
TE Ryland Goede (literature, media and communication)
LB Jackson Hamilton (history, technology and society)
LB E.J. Lightsey (literature, media and communication)
DL Jason Moore (master’s – analytics)
OL Keylan Rutledge (history, technology and society)
P David Shanahan (master’s – analytics)
WR Bailey Stockton (business administration)
Requirements for the all-ACC academic team are a 3.0 grade point average (for both the previous semester and cumulative) and to compete in at least 50% of the team’s games during the season.
Two of Georgia Tech’s honorees also earned all-ACC recognition for their performances on the field in 2024 – Rutledge (first team) and Efford (third team). Three were named to the all-ACC academic team for the third time in their careers – Freer (believed to be the first Georgia Tech football student-athlete ever enrolled in a Ph.D. program while still a member of the team), Moore and Shanahan (both enrolled in Tech’s prestigious master’s program in analytics).
As a team, Georgia Tech football posted a 3.0 grade point average during the 2024 fall semester, which marked the first time that it ever reached the 3.0 threshold in-season or recorded 3.0 team GPAs in back-to-back semesters (the Jackets had a 3.02 team GPA during the Spring 2024 semester).
On the field, Tech has earned bowl berths in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013 and 2014. The Yellow Jackets also have back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the ACC, placing fourth in the 14-team conference in 2023 and fourth in the 17-team league in 2024.
