Football | 1/6/2026 12:43:00 PM

Greenwood, Indiana – Five members of the Oberlin College football team earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honor roll, as announced by College Sports Communicators on Tuesday afternoon.
 
James Chikwe, CJ Cooper II, Hunter Green, Michael Mathis, and Connor Steele were recognized for the Crimson and Gold.
 
Chikwe, Green, and Steele are now two-time CSC Academic All-District honorees, while Cooper II and Mathis earn the award for the first time in their careers.
 
A defensive back that started and played in all ten games this season, Chikwe tied for second on the team in tackles with 52.0 and co-led the team in quarterback hurries.
 
In just his second year with the program, Cooper II continues to dazzle on both sides of the ball as a wide receiver and defensive back. The Atlanta native had a career game in the team's season opener against Calvin, when he combined for 135 yard receiving and returning on special teams.
 
Green, a perennial starter and two-way student-athlete, is set to graduate in May with degrees in Psychology and Environmental Sciences. The 2x All-Conference honoree notched his name in Crimson and Gold history with 354 career tackles, which sits second-all time in program history.
 
A 6'5" lineman that has anchored the offense for four seasons, Mathis has played in all 40 games of his career and collected starts in 39 of them. Mathis is set to graduate with a degree in Law and Society this spring.  
 
Rounding out the impressive list is a double-major out of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Steele, who's studying both Law & Society and Politics, is the grounding force of the Oberlin offense. The senior has scored a touchdown in every season and finished his career with more than 1,100 yard of total offense.
 
"These guys are as relentless in the classroom as they are on the field, and this recognition is evident of that hard work. I'm incredibly proud of all five of these young men, and especially Hunter, Michael, and Connor who finish their Oberlin careers with such distinction." Head Coach John Pont said.
 
The award recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. To be eligible for selection, a student-athlete must have reached sophomore athletic status and either competed in 90% of the team's games or started in at least 66% of games while maintaining a 3.50 or higher cumulative grade point average.
 
The team recently made national headlines when they were published in The Athletic and The New York Times for their resilience.
 
Keep up with the Crimson and Gold on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and watch every home game on the Oberlin Sports Network online or on Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire TV.