GOLDEN, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines quarterback John Matocha has earned the nation's highest academic honor, being selected as the 2022-23 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Overall Team Member of the Year for NCAA Division II. 

Out of more than 122,000 student-athletes in D-II, Matocha was selected as the division's top overall scholar-athlete from among the 16 sport-specific Academic All-America Team Members of the Year. Matocha was one of two Orediggers on that ballot along with cross country/track & field selection Zoe Baker. Joining Matocha as 2023's overall winners are Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark for Division I, Mount Union track sprinter Kenadee Wayt for Division III, and Spring Arbor soccer midfielder Mackenzie Selvius for NAIA. 

Matocha is the first Mines student-athlete to receive the award and just the second from the RMAC (joining Western State distance runner Alicja Konieczek in 2018) and third from D-II football (joining Ferris State's Jason Vander Laan in 2016 and Northwest Missouri State's Josh Lamberson in 2006). He joins an elite list of winners from across all divisions, which includes names such as current and former NFL quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Alex Smith, Mac Jones, and Justin Herbert; Olympians like Katie Ledecky and Galen Rupp; and basketball stars including Aliyah Boston, Emeka Okafor, Maya Moore, and Rebecca Lobo. 

"I am blessed for the opportunity to be a student-athlete at the Colorado School of Mines and honored to receive this award," Matocha said. "I am so grateful for my team and school for all their support on the field and in the classroom. Great school, great football, and I am glad to be a part of it."

Matocha received his undergraduate degree in computer science from Mines in May with a 3.64 GPA, and will work on a master's degree this year in his final season of eligibility. His list of academic accolades is nearly as long as his on-field accomplishments, including the 2022 Academic All-America Team Member of the Year award in football, First-Team Academic All-America nods in 2021 and 2022, the 2022 RMAC Offensive Academic Player of the Year Award, and two consecutive First-Team Academic All-RMAC selections. 

"John exemplifies everything a coach could want in a student-athlete, especially at a place as unique as Colorado School of Mines," said Mines Head Coach Pete Sterbick. "On and off the field, he is the leader of our team. He is incredibly competitive as a player, but also puts great value in academics, and personifies what it means to be a Mines football player."

On the field, Matocha was the 2022 Harlon Hill Award as the national player of the year, and he now joins Vander Laan as the only two players to win both the Harlon Hill and the Academic All-America Overall Team Member of the Year award. After leading Mines to the 2022 national championship game, Matocha was named the D2CCA Ron Lenz National Offensive Player of the Year, the D2Football.com Offensive Player of the Year, and an all-American by four different organizations, and was recognized as the Offensive Player of the Year by the RMAC, the National Football Foundation Colorado, and in Super Region 4 by the D2CCA. Matocha led NCAA Division II in passing yards (4,778, a new Mines and state of Colorado record), passing touchdowns (52), pass efficiency (178.8), and points responsible for (342), and his 5,221 total yards marked the third most-productive season in D-II history. In April, he was honored as the state's male college athlete of the year by the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

Matocha and the Orediggers begin the 2023 campaign Aug. 31 hosting Grand Valley State at 6 p.m.