They named King and Funderburk to the Southland All-Academic team.

FRISCO –  They named Texas A&M University-Commerce football student-athletes Clifford Funderburk and Sean-Krystoff King to the Southland Conference All-Academic team on Wednesday morning 

The conference announced the 26-student-athlete team on Wednesday morning, and the Lions were one of five teams to have multiple honorees. King (Humble – Summer Creek) is a computer science major, while Funderburk (North Forney) is a business administration major. 

Last season, King appeared in all but one game, recording 15 tackles with one interception. He finished the season fourth in the conference for kick return yards, and his season-long return of 59 yards was third in the Southland. 

Funderburk was part of the Southland’s top scoring, total, rushing, and passing defense, appearing in every game. He recorded 21 tackles, including five tackles for loss and three sacks. 

The Lions went 5-6 last season and 3-3 in Southland play during their first season in NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference. 

The team was voted upon by the head coach, sports information director, and an academic/compliance staff member from each school. To be eligible for all-academic distinction, an athlete must hold a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA through the semester before the sport’s championship, completed at least one full academic year at the school before the current season, and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competitions during the most recently completed season. 

They automatically select athletes for the first-team all-conference selections that meet the qualifications and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selections. 

2022 Southland Football Student-Athlete of the Year: Kelechi Anyalebechi, UIW

Southland Football All-Academic Team

Pos.	Name	School	Hometown	Cl.	GPA	Major
QB	Zach Clement	Northwestern State	Broussard, La.	Sr.	3.75	Biology
RB	Marcus Cooper	UIW	Altair, Texas	Gr.	3.13	MS, Sport Management
RB	Collin Guggenheim	Nicholls	Kenner, La.	Jr.	3.22	Human Performance Education
TE	Ivan Drobocky C	Southeastern	Bowling Green, Ky.	So.	3.54	Supply Chain Management
WR	Darion Chafin *	UIW	Wichita Falls, Texas	Gr.	3.50	MS, Sport Management
WR	Taylor Grimes *	UIW	Godley, Texas	Sr.	3.50	Cultural Studies
WR	Nick Kovacs	Southeastern	Springboro, Ohio	Sr.	3.82	General Studies
OL	John Allen *2	Southeastern	Jackson, Miss.	Jr.	3.00	Strategic Communication
OL	Calvin Barkat *C2	McNeese	Sachse, Texas	Sr.	3.59	H&HP-Pre Chiropractic
OL	Reid Francis *3	UIW	College Station, Texas	Sr.	3.99	Engineering
OL	Caleb Johnson *	UIW	Mount Pleasant, Texas	Sr.	3.12	Engineering Physics
OL	Dom Serapiglia III C	Southeastern	Jefferson Hills, Pa.	So.	3.57	Supply Chain Management
OL	Trey Vondenstein C	McNeese	Katy, Texas	R-Jr.	4.00	H&HP-Health Promotions
PK	Carson Mohr	UIW	The Woodlands, Texas	Sr.	3.84	Psychology
P	Austin Dunlap *	Southeastern	Slidell, La.	Jr.	3.47	Business Administration
DL	Garrett Crawford C	Southeastern	Slidell, La.	Jr.	3.55	Computer Science
DL	Clifford Funderburk	A&M-Commerce	Forney, Texas	So.	3.79	Business Administration
DL	Perry Ganci 2	Nicholls	New Orleans, La.	Sr.	3.12	Business Administration
DL	Mason Kinsey	McNeese	Mansfield, Texas	Sr.	3.25	Masters, Criminal Justice
LB	Kelechi Anyalabechi *	UIW	Pearland, Texas	Gr.	4.00	MBA, Sport Management
LB	Kordell Williams *2	McNeese	Carencro, La.	Sr.	3.00	Masters, Criminal Justice
LB	Brennan Young C3	HCU	Conroe, Texas	Gr.	3.72	MBA, Marketing
DB	Chase Brown	Nicholls	Baton Rouge, La.	Gr.	3.00	MBA
DB	PJ Herrington	Northwestern State	Natchez, Miss.	Sr.	3.16	Health and Exercise Science
DB	Sean-Krystoff King	A&M-Commerce	Humble, Texas	So.	3.73	Computer Science
DB	Logan Scott	Nicholls	Prairieville, La.	So.	3.05	Computer Information Systems

* = First Team All-Conference
C = College Sports Communicators Academic All-District
# = Multi-time selection