HAMMOND, La. –  Southeastern Louisiana junior running back Taron Jones, senior offensive lineman Rendon Miles-Character and graduate defensive back Matthew Wright were honored for excellence on the gridiron and in the classroom as members of the 2020-21 Southland Conference Football All-Academic Teams, the league office announced on Tuesday.
 
Jones, a finance major with a 3.36 cumulative grade point average, was named to the Southland All-Academic team for the second straight season. The second-leading rusher on the Lion roster, the Mandeville, Louisiana native rushed for touchdowns at Sam Houston and Southern Illinois.
 
Miles-Character carried a 3.09 GPA as a sport management major into the spring season. The starting right tackle from New Orleans, Louisiana earned third team All-Southland honors last month after serving as a key contributor to a SLU attack that ranks among the national leaders in passing offense (391.9 ypg), scoring offense (39.6 ppg) and total offense (508.6 ypg). In conference play, he was credited with 19 knockdowns and graded out at 90 percent or higher in four of six league contests.
 
Rounding out the Lion All-Academic contingent was Wright, who has a 4.0 grade point average as he works toward his master's degree in business administration. The Austin, Texas native returned to the starting lineup after not playing since the third week of the 2018 season due to various injuries. Wright was credited with a forced fumble versus Northwestern State and intercepted a pass versus McNeese.
 
McNeese defensive lineman Isaiah Chambers was named the league's Student-Athlete of the Year. To be eligible for inclusion on the Southland Conference All-Academic Teams, student-athletes must be their second season or later with their current institution and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. The league's head coaches, sports information directors and academic advisors selected the teams. Voters were not allowed to vote for their school's nominees.
 
Jones, Miles-Character and Wright will all be back for the fall season. The Lions open the 2021 campaign at home, hosting North Alabama on Sept. 4 in Strawberry Stadium.
 
2020-21 Southland Conference Football All-Academic Team
 
Student-Athlete of the Year: Isaiah Chambers, McNeese
 
Pos. – Name – School – Hometown – Cl. – GPA – Major
QB – Bailey Zappe – Houston Baptist – Victoria, Texas – Sr. – 3.39 – Marketing
RB – Taron Jones – Southeastern Louisiana – Mandeville, La. – Jr. – 3.36 – Finance
RB – Cameron Myers – Central Arkansas – Plant City, Fla. – So. – 3.34 – Psychology
TE – Chad Aune – Stephen F. Austin – Denton, Texas – Fr. – 3.10 – Kinesiology
WR – Ife Adeyi – Sam Houston – Mansfield, Texas – So. – 3.09 – Construction Management
WR – Trevor Begue – McNeese – Lafayette, La. – Gr. – 3.66 – Business Administration
WR – Gavin Landry – Northwestern State – White Castle, La. – Gr. – 3.93 – Business Administration
OL – Rendon Miles-Character – Southeastern Louisiana – New Orleans, La. – Sr. – 3.09 – Sport Management
OL – Khalil Corbett-Canada – Northwestern State – Harker Heights, Texas – Gr. – 3.50 – Health/Exercise Science
OL – Reid Francis – UIW – College Station, Texas – Fr. – 4.00 – Mechanical Engineering
OL – Christian Hood – Houston Baptist – Marshall, Texas – So. – 3.59 – Kinesiology
OL – Will Siler – Central Arkansas – Searcy, Ark. – Sr. – 4.00 – Biology/Pre-Med
PK – Hayden Ray – Central Arkansas – Bryant, Ark. – Jr. – 3.37 – General Science
P – Matt McRobert – Sam Houston – Berorwa, Australia – Gr. – 3.26 – Kinesiology
DL – Isaiah Chambers – McNeese – Houston, Texas – Gr. – 3.66 – Criminal Justice
DL – Logan Jessup – Central Arkansas – Wynne, Ark. – So. – 3.16 – Physical/Teacher Education
DL – JW Jones – Central Arkansas – Rayville, La. – Sr. – 3.33 – Exercise Science
DL – Jahari Kay – Sam Houston – Berkeley, Calif. – Sr. – 3.18 – Communications
DL – Quent Titre – Abilene Christian – Missouri City, Texas – Jr. – 3.51 – Information Systems
LB – Brevin Randle – Stephen F. Austin – Marshall, Texas – So. – 3.00 – General Business
LB – Blake Stephenson – Northwestern State – Deer Park, Texas – Gr. – 3.66 – Business Adminstration
LB – Trevor Williams – Sam Houston – College Station, Texas – Jr. – 3.32 – Entrepreneurship
DB – Matthew Wright – Southeastern Louisiana – Austin, Texas – Gr. – 4.00 – Business Adminstration
DB – Shawn Holton – UIW – Fort Worth, Texas – So. – 3.63 – Criminal Justice
DB – Tristin McCollum – Sam Houston – Galveston, Texas – Sr. – 3.11 – Kinesiology
DB – Andre Mulinax – Lamar – Fort Worth, Texas – Sr. – 3.81 – Exercise Science
DB – Gavin Roland – Stephen F. Austin – League City, Texas – Sr. – 3.90 - Biology
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.