Stetson University senior defensive tackle Davion Belk has been recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as an Academic All-District selection for 2016.

Belk, who was also a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, will now be included in voting for the CoSIDA Academic All-America team representing District 4 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Puerto Rico).

A native of Chicago, IL, Belk has been a four-year captain for the Hatters and this is his third time to be nominated for the CoSIDA Academic All-America team, and this is the second time he has been an All-District pick. Through nine games this year Belk has 45 total tackles, including 13 for loss. In his career for the Hatters he has piled up 235 tackles, including 56 for loss, and has 24 career sacks. 

Off the field, Belk was a Pioneer Football League All-Academic first team selection in 2015 after being a second team PFL All-Academic selection in 2014. He has been named to the league Academic Honor Roll three times. He Is active in Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and has volunteered with the MeStrong 5K for three years and with PIKE Madness, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament with proceeds going to The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Belk works with "I'm Logan It", a 5-on-5 football tournament to celebrate the life of Logan Kushner, with proceeds going to finding cures for Juvenile Diabetes and Tourrettes Syndrome. He is also active in the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and serves as an RA in his residence hall, where he organized a clothing drive for area homeless residents. He has volunteered with the Starke Elementary School career fair and at the Blue Lake Elementary "Walk a Kid to School Day". He has worked with DeLand are youth football players at skills camps and interned with Stetson University Development and Alumni Engagement.

CoSIDA began the distinguished Academic All-America program in 1952, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America scholar-athlete honors.

Currently, CoSIDA sponsors Academic All-America programs for men's soccer, women's soccer, football, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball and men's and women's track and field/cross country. Many other sports are eligible through the At-Large program.

Lester Jordan, then Sports Information Director at SMU, is considered the father of the first team (football), which was released on Saturday, December 6, 1952. Men's Basketball was added in 1963 and baseball in 1970. The first women's Academic All-America team-for women's basketball-appeared in 1980. Legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg was named the national spokesperson for the program in 1986. Starting with the 1987-88 seasons, CoSIDA began selecting an Academic All-America of the Year in each sport and an overall Academic All-America of the Year by division.

The Academic All-America program is comprised of four divisional teams, with student-athletes being honored separately in Division I, Division II and Division III. The College Division team is comprised of NAIA, Canadian and two-year student-athletes. This format began in the 2011-12 academic year. Previously there were two teams - University Division (D1) and a College Division (all others).