Emeka Okafor of the University of Connecticut and Pennsylvania State University guard Kelly Mazzante highlight the 2004 Academic All-America Basketball Team announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Okafor and Mazzante were named Academic All-America of the Year for the men's and women's university divisions, respectively. Nick Branting of the University of Nebraska at Kearney earned Academic All-America of the Year honors for the men's college division, while the same honor in the women's college division went to Mandy Koupal from the University of South Dakota.

Okafor, a first-team Academic All-America selection for the second straight year, led the nation in blocked shots and boasted 19 double-doubles during the 2003-04 season. He is the 14th player in Division I history with more than 400 career blocks.

Mazzante is a two-time Academic All-America and Big Ten Player of the Year who led the Lady Lions to their second straight Big Ten title. She finished the regular season as the Big Ten all-time leading scorer with 2,795 career points, while averaging 20.6 points per game, 4.0 rebounds per game and 1.9 steals per game.

Branting, a two-time Academic All-American, leads Nebraska-Kearney in points, rebounds and blocks. He is a Nebraska state finalist for a 2004 Rhodes Scholarship.

Koupal averaged 24.4 points and 11.6 rebounds for South Dakota. She holds 18 school records, including career points (2,046), points in a season (755) and rebounds in a season (380).

The Academic All-America Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by the 2,000-member CoSIDA. Nominees must be varsity starters or key reserves, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.200 (4.000 scale), have reached sophomore athletics and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes.

Following are the 2004 Academic All-America Basketball Teams.

Women's university division

First team

Kate Endress, Ball State, entrepreneurship; Laurie Koehn, Kansas State, elementary education; Kelly Mazzante, Penn State, advertising; Hana Peljto, Harvard, psychology; Stefanie Wenzel, Bowling Green, integrated language arts.

Second team

Courtney Davidson, Navy, political science; Colleen Day, Miami (Ohio), secondary education; Kathleen Nygaard, Eastern Washington, marketing; Nicole Ohlde, Kansas State, elementary education; Beth Swink, St. Francis (Pennsylvania), biology.

Third team

Yoneko Allen, Western Carolina, business administration; Jamie Carey, Texas, sociology/social work; Caton Hill. Oklahoma, zoology/pre-med; Lindsay Shearer, Kent State, integrated mathematics; Lindsay Thomas, Colorado State, English/Spanish.

Men's university division

First team

Adam Hess, William & Mary, finance; Chris Hill, Michigan State, finance; Michael Kuebler, Hawaii, business administration; Adam Mark, Belmont, computer science; Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, finance.

Second team

Clint Cuffle, Evansville, civil engineering; Jason Parker, Tulsa, management information systems; Brett Starkey, Denver, biology/pre-med; Blake Stepp, Gonzaga, business administration; Derek Winans, Southeast Missouri State, business management.

Third team

Adam Baumann, Youngstown State, management information systems; Brody Deren, Creighton, exercise science; Craig Forth, Syracuse, inclusive education/geography; Johannes Herber, West Virginia, political science; Michael Lindeman, Creighton, finance.

Women's college division

First team

Ashlea Bland, West Liberty State, elementary education; Lucy DeMartin, Ferris State, elementary education; Mandy Koupal, South Dakota, elementary education; Jacqui Martin, Indiana (Pennsylvania), math education; Haley Smith, Maryville (Tennessee), math/business.

Second team

Mel Bongiorno, Chapman, psychology/journalism; Lindsey Dietz, Minnesota Duluth, mathematics; Jennifer Howard, Francis Marion, biology/chemistry/business; Kay Mikolajczak, Wisconsin-Oshkosh, biology; Jena Shackelford, Central Missouri State, biology.

Third team

Julia Bachman, Notre Dame (Mayland), biology; Amy Brinkerhoff, Greenville, elementary education; Lauren Harris, Hardin-Simmons, computer science; Sarah Kendrick, South Carolina-Aiken, exercise and sport science; Becca Spaeth, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, biology.

Men's college division

First team

Nick Branting, Nebraska-Kearney, biology; Justin Call, Emory & Henry, business/economics; Jerett Skrifvars, Montana State-Billings, information systems; Dennis Stanton, Ursinus, English; Brian Westre, Missouri-Rolla, engineering management.

Second team

Josh Allen, Alderson-Broaddus, athletic training; Jay Brogdon, Harding, management; Michael Patrick, Wheeling-Jesuit, management; Matt Schlingman, Wooster, mathematics; Tommy Stolhandske, Texas Lutheran, kinesiology.

Third team

J.D. Byers, Lebanon Valley, business; Bryan Depew, Whitworth, business/accounting; Rob Hennigan, Emerson, broadcast journalism; Matt Hopf, Milwaukee School of Engineering, architectural engineering; Brandon Randall, Hampden-Sydney, physics.