Manias an Academic All-American Again

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Aaron Manias earned Academic All-America accolades again after completing his undergraduate studies at Purdue with a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average while posting another 1.000 OPS campaign.

Manias was recognized as a second-team honoree this season, moving up from the third-team recognition he garnered a season ago. He has joined Gary Petric (1975, 1977) and Craig Robertshaw (1990, 1991) as the only multi-year Academic All-Americans in program history.

The Boilermakers’ utility man and Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree graduated with a bachelor’s degree in selling and sales management last month. Manias was recognized as an Academic All-American at designated hitter again after making 22 of his 47 starts this season at DH. The senior also made eight starts in left field and 17 at first base, including the final 14 games. He had not played first base for Purdue until April 21.

Manias was one of three NCAA Division I players this year to be an Academic All-American again. He joined Mississippi State’s Noah Sullivan, who repeated as the Academic All-America Team Member of the Year, as the only players to be on the Division I lists for the second year in a row. West Virginia’s Ian Korn, a second-team honoree at pitcher this season, was also an NCAA Division II Academic All-American last year at Seton Hill University. Sullivan was recognized as the first-team DH after earning a 4.0 GPA as a graduate student at MSU. He also had a 4.0 GPA as an undergraduate, transferring from USC Upstate to Mississippi State in the summer of 2024 after initially being a standout two-way player as a hitter and pitcher.

Teammates Eli Anderson, Gavin Beuter Sam Flores and Jake Kramer joined Manias as Academic All-District honorees this season. All five players earned their bachelor’s degrees from Purdue this year. Anderson and Beuter joined Manias as selling and sales management majors in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Purdue.

Before enrolling at Purdue, Manias compiled a 4.0 GPA during his two years at Howard College in Texas and a 3.82 GPA while spending the 2023-24 school year at the University of Nebraska.

Academic All-America and Academic All-District honorees are awarded by the College Sports Communicators. To be eligible, student-athletes must have compiled a 3.5-plus cumulative grade point average at their current university while being a starter or key contributor on the field (freshmen are ineligible). A national vote of the top Academic All-District honorees in turn populates the Academic All-America teams.

As respected team leader and consistent performer wherever on the field he was asked to play, Manias posted a .333/.470/.595 slash line for a 1.065 OPS. He did it while playing through a back injury for much of the season. Manias connected for nine home runs for the second year in a row and increased his doubles total from nine to 15. He finished his two years as a Boilermaker with a 1.041 OPS, 43 extra-base hits and 76 RBI in 294 at-bats. Manias registered more free passes (76 total; 42 walks, 34 HBP) than strikeouts (66), contributing to a strong .453 career on-base percentage.

Around the Big Ten, Manias joined Minnesota’s Charlie Sutherland (first-team outfielder) on the Academic All-America teams.