LOGAN, Utah - Utah State senior forward Justin Bean has been named academic all-District 8, as announced by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday. The award marks the second for Utah State in the last three years as then-senior Sam Merrill was also honored as an all-district pick in 2020 and later went on to earn second-team academic All-American honors.
The 2021-22 Academic All-District Men's and Women's Basketball Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team (if applicable) Academic All-America honorees will be announced on March 15.
Bean was one of just five players from the district, comprised of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Canada, joining Dixie State senior Hunter Schofield, Stanford teammates junior James Keefe and sophomore Michael O'Connell, and former Aggie Alphonso Anderson, now a senior for the University of the Pacific. Bean is one of only two players from the Mountain West honored with academic all-district accolades as Colorado State junior Isaiah Stevens was named to the District 7 team.
Bean is leading the Aggies this season in both points and rebounds, averaging a near-double-double of 18.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. The senior from Moore, Oklahoma, has recorded 16 double-doubles this season, tied for the seventh-most in a single season in USU history, to rank fifth in the nation. Bean is also among the national leaders in several other statistics as he is seventh in total minutes (963:50), ninth in total rebounds (266), 11th in total field goals made (191), 15th in defensive rebounds per game (7.33) and 16th in total rebounds per game (9.9).
Bean needs 45 more rebounds this season to finish with 1,000 for his career, which would make him just the third Aggie in school history to record more than 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds in a USU uniform. Bean already ranks second in school history with 52 double-digit rebounding games in his career, third in career double-doubles (42) and fourth in career rebounds, pulling down 955.
Bean has been a stalwart on the court and also in the classroom for the Aggies, earning three academic all-MW citations and a pair of MW Scholar-Athlete honors during his career.
Bean and the rest of the Aggies return to action on Saturday, facing Boise State on the road at 4 p.m.
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