Shellenberger Named ACC Men’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia’s Connor Shellenberger and Duke’s Brennan O’Neill have been named the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athletes of the Year, the ACC announced Thursday (June 22).

Including Shellenberger, a program-record 25 UVA men’s lacrosse players garnered All-ACC Academic Team honors. With Thursday’s announcement, Cade Saustad and Petey LaSalla joined Owen Van Arsdale and Matt Moore as the program’s only four-time All-ACC Academic Team honorees.

A media studies major, Shellenberger is the UVA fourth men’s lacrosse player to earn the award since its inception in 2007, which annually honors top junior and senior student-athletes in their respective sport. Ben Rubeor (2008), Danny Glading (2009) and Ryan Conrad (2019) were also recipients of the award.

For the second year in a row, Shellenberger was named one of five Tewaaraton Award Finalists, the highest honor in college lacrosse. He became just the second three-time USILA first team All-American in UVA history. Shellenberger guided UVA to its third Championship Weekend appearance in its last four attempts, where he was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team for the second time of his career. In three tournament games, he totaled 11 goals and 11 assists. His 11 assists and 22 points were the most among all players in the tournament, while his 11 goals tied for the most with O’Neill (4 games). He finished the 2023 season as the NCAA’s statistical champion in assists per game (3.38) and was second nationally in points per game (5.25). Shellenberger’s 54 total assists and 87 points are both good for second in UVA single-season history. He was also the only Division-I player to tally 10 points – his career high – in three different games this year.

Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s contests.

The ACC Honor Roll will be released in July, which recognizes all conference student-athletes with a grade point average of 3.0 for the current academic year.

2023 All-ACC Academic Team – Virginia

Scott Bower, LSM, Sr., American Studies

Noah Chizmar, SSDM, So., Arts & Sciences (undeclared)

Jeff Conner, M, Gr., High Education (M.Ed.)

Will Cory, A/M, Sr., Economics

Xander Dickson, A, Sr., American Studies

Mac Eldridge, FO, Fr., Arts & Sciences (undeclared)

George Fulton, D, So., Public Policy & Leadership

Jake Giulieri, D, Sr., History

John Izlar, SSDM, Sr., Commerce

Cole Kastner, D, Jr., Commerce

Griffin Kology, D, So., Arts & Sciences (undeclared)

Petey LaSalla, FO, Gr., Commerce (M.S.)

Quentin Matsui, D, Sr., Commerce

Thomas McConvey, M, Gr., Accounting (M.S.)

Tommy McNeal, LSM, So., Kinesiology

Thomas Mencke, A, So., Public Policy

Ricky Miezan, M, Gr., Education (Professional Learner)

David Roselle, G, Sr., Commerce

Grayson Sallade, SSDM, Gr., Civil Engineering (M.S.)

Cade Saustad, D, Gr., Commerce (M.S.)

Griffin Schutz, M, So., Environmental Science

Connor Shellenberger, A, Sr., Media Studies

Truitt Sunderland, A, Fr., Arts & Sciences (undeclared)

Mitchell Whalen, LSM, Sr., Commerce

Evan Zinn, SSDM, Gr., Commerce (M.S.)