20 February 2003IWU's Kasten Named to All-District Academic Team
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan University senior forward Luke Kasten has been elected to the District Five College Division all-academic men’s basketball team and will join representatives of seven other districts on the Verizon Academic All-America national ballots.
The all-district teams were chosen by a vote of members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. To be considered for the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America squads, players must be of at least sophomore standing, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 (of 4.0) and be a starter or top reserve.
Kasten (Coffeen, Ill. (Hillsboro HS) has a 3.50 grade-point average as a business administration major. He was Illinois Wesleyan’s representative at the 2001 NCAA Leadership Foundation Conference and, in addition to academics and basketball, Kasten currently works part-time as an underwriter for Bloomington’s State Farm Insurance.
The reigning College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin "Player of Week", Kasten ranks in the top 10 in five league statistical categories, including sixth in both scoring and rebounding. He averages 17.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, has led IWU in scoring in 10 games and has scored in double figures in 21 of 22 games.
Kasten is one of only four players in IWU history with more than 1,700 points and 600 rebounds. His career 1,752 points is sixth all-time at IWU and his 663 rebounds places him in eighth place.
Kasten was a first team all-CCIW selection in 2001 and 2002 after being named to the second team as a freshman in 2000. He was a first team all-Midwest region choice in 2001 as the top scorer for a Titan team that finished third in national D-III tourney. He set the school’s freshman scoring mark and was the first player ever at IWU with more than 400 points in each of first two seasons.
Kasten is the son of Ron and Rhonda Kasten of Coffeen, Ill.
Others, all seniors from colleges in Minnesota, who were chosen to the first team and advance to the national Academic All-America ballot are Royce Bryan of Bemidji State University, 4.00, secondary education and social studies; Nick Ellenberger of Minnesota State-Mankato, 3.91, civil engineering; Timothy Nelson of St. Olaf, 3.95, philosophy/psychology; and Forrest Witt of St. Cloud State University, 3.63, elementary education.
Elected to the second team were senior guard Drew Carlson of Minnesota State-Mankato, 3.5, finance; senior forward Andy Gilbert of Bethel (Minn.), 3.28, biology; senior guard Rashas Gold of Rose-Hulman, 4.0, chemical engineering; junior center Joel Kolmodin of Wheaton, 3.21, pre-med; and junior guard Casey Taggatz of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 3.5, business.
CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206