PHILADELPHIA – Five members of the University of Pennsylvania football team were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team, announced Tuesday afternoon for their accomplishments in the classroom in addition to on the gridiron.
 
In order to be eligible for the honor, the student-athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher and be a starter/key player on his team.
 
Academic All-District honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot. First and second team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in late December.
 
For this season, senior offensive lineman Ben Hoitink, senior punter Ben Krimm, senior offensive lineman Jack Purcell, junior wide receiver Joshua Casilli and sophomore quarterback Aidan Sayin earned Academic All-District selections for the Quakers.
 
Hoitink, a second-team All-Ivy selection at right guard, has concentrations in Finance and Management at Wharton. He played and started in all 10 games in 2022 and was a major part of the offensive line that allowed just 15 sacks all year, tied for the third-fewest in the Ivy League.
 
Krimm was undisputedly the most valuable punter in the Ivy League for the 2022 season after garnering first-team All-Ivy honors this week. He is an economics major with a minor in Consumer Psychology and excelled on the field this season. Krimm led the Ivy League with an average punt yardage of 41.6 ypg (24th in FCS football). He had an Ivy-leading six touchbacks with the most punts further than 50 yards in the league (11), seven more than second. Krimm racked up the second most total yards (1,829) in the Ivy League.
 
Purcell majors in economics and had a strong season at right tackle, despite missing time due to injury. Like Hoitink, he was an integral part of the Quakers' O-Line that allowed just 15 sacks on the season, protecting quarterback Aidan Sayin.
 
Casilli also had a strong season for the Quakers in 2022 as a leading target in Sayin's passing game. In the classroom, he is a management major. On the field, Casilli caught 52 passes for 491 yards and a team-high tying four touchdowns. He tallied 10 catches against Colgate in the opener and 11 for 159 yards against Columbia.
 
Finally, Sayin took a step forward as Penn's starting QB in 2022 and in the classroom in the prestigious Wharton School. He had an Ivy League-leading 253 completions and was tied for the league-lead in touchdowns with 18. Sayin was second in the Ivy League with 2,344 passing yards, averaging 234.4 yards per game. His passing yardage is good for the fifth most in a single season in program history and the most since Alek Torgersen's 2,689 yards in 2014.
 
The five players named Academic All-District are the most in program history, as 2022 marks the second consecutive season a Quaker was named to the list (Prince Emili in 2021).