43
Kent State’s Italiano earns academic honor
When Jordan Italiano arrived at Kent State University on a football scholarship, he was undecided on a academic major.
Two and a half years later, it’s safe to say the Canfield High graduate knows what he’s doing.
Italiano was named to the Capital One Academic All-America first team on Thursday, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. He’s earned a 3.97 grade point average, while majoring in pre-med/chemistry.
“I found out this afternoon when I was leaving the football offices,” Italiano said on Thursday. “It was a real big honor and I was happy to receive it.”
Also a team captain on the Golden Flashes’ football team, Italiano ranked eighth in the Mid-American Conference and 51st in the nation with 8.7 in tackles per game. His 48 solo tackles ranked second on the team.
“It can be quite difficult sometimes with the time commitment and everything,” Italiano said. “We have weekly meetings with coaches and they keep on you.
“[Coaches] place a lot of emphasis on improving.”
Hard to imagine much room for improvement with Italiano — except for maybe that .03 he’s missing.
“Yeah, I don’t know if I can get much higher than that,” he said with a laugh.
Italiano has goals of becoming a doctor after college. He’s still undecided on the specialty, but history tells us that should work out just fine.