CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's basketball's
Kale Catchings and
Chris Ledlum were named to the 2021-22 College Sports Information Directors (CoSIDA) Academic All-District I Team on Thursday afternoon. The honor is the first for both players.
The Academic All-District Team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. District I covers men's basketball teams from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Joining Catchings and Ledlum on the All-District I team were Jimmy Boeheim of Syracuse, St. Bonaventure's Jaren Holmes and fellow Ivy League competitor Aaryn Rai of Dartmouth.
To be eligible for consideration, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30 on a 4.00 scale. Nominees must also have competed in at least 50 percent of the team's games, be currently enrolled and completed at least one full year at their institution.
A senior, Catchings has started all 19 games in which he has seen action and is averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds, while ranking second on the team in steals with 24. Of his teammates who have attempted at least 100 field goals, Catchings' 48.3-percent field-goal percentage ranks first. He enters this week's action having scored in double figures eight times.
Ledlum, meanwhile, is a junior who has played and started 13 games but has been recovering from an injury that has sidelined him since early January. Over the course of the first two-plus months of the 2021-22 campaign, Ledlum was one of the top players in the country, averaging 16.7 points and 9.3 rebounds. The Brooklyn, New York native scored in double figures 12 times, led the team in rebounding 11 times and was the team leader in scoring on five different occasions. Ledlum also had a team-high six double-doubles to his credit.
Catchings and Ledlum are the first Harvard players to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District I honors since Henry Welsh in 2019, and are now eligible to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team.
The Crimson return to action on Friday, Feb. 18, when it plays host to Columbia in a game that is set for a 7 p.m. ET start (ESPN+).
