BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Salem University’s Milos Popovic (Sr., Nis, Serbia/Gimnasium 9 May) was named to the 2020 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Division II Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large Team.
A First Team selection and the 43rd Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) affiliated athlete to garner CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors, Popovic is the first Salem men’s water polo to earn recognition and joins Gannon University’s Michael Squeglia (2017, Third Team), Daisuke Takagi (2014, Second Team) and Paul Musille (2008, First Team) as the only men in league history to make CoSIDA’s Division II Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large Team.
He is the second CWPA athlete in as many days to garner Academic All-America® recognition as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Clyde Huibregtse (Sr., New York, N.Y./Bronx) received CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® Men’s At-Large Second Team honors on June 17.
To be nominated for Academic All-America® honors, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games to be eligible. In addition, no student-athlete is eligible until he/she has completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility.
A Human Resources Management major with a 3.97 grade point average, Popovic graduated this year following a standout career for the Tigers.
A 2018 and 2019 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Division II All-America First Team selection to become the inaugural athlete in Salem men’s water polo history to claim back-to-back All-America recognition, Popovic ranks among the all-time best in program history.
He concluded his tenure in West Virginia as the Tigers’ all-time scoring leader with school records of 314 goals and 190 assists for 504 points. Popovic is also ranked among the Tigers’ career top five in earned kickouts (second), sprint victories (third) and steals (fourth).
During the 2019 season, Popovic was named Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-West Region (MAWPC-West) Most Valuable Player. Further, he claimed All-Tournament First Team and Most Valuable Player honors at both the Division II Eastern Championship and the MAWPC-West Region Championship for leading the Tigers to Second and Third Place finishes, respectively.
Overall, he helped Salem claim back-to-back-to-back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Division II Eastern Championship (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), while the team placed Fourth (2016), Third (2017, 2019) and Second (2018) at the MAWPC-West Region Championship.
For his performance, he earned four Division II Eastern Championship All-Tournament First Team honors (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and was named the 2016 Rookie of the Year to accompany 2019 MVP laurels. Further, he garnered four MAWPC-West All-Conference nods (First Team: 2017, 2018, 2019; Second Team: 2016) with 2016 Rookie of the Year and 2018 MVP notices to go along with four MAWPC-West Championship All-Tournament awards (First Team: 2018, 2019; Second Team: 2016, 2017), the 2016 Rookie of the Year and 2019 MVP awards.
Popovic was the lone men’s Division II water polo player to garner recognition on an Academic All-America® list comprised of athletes from the sports of lacrosse, rifle, skiing, fencing, swimming and diving, tennis, golf, volleyball, gymnastics, water polo, ice hockey and wrestling.
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