SEARCY – Harding centerfielder Cody Smith received Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors Wednesday. He becomes the fourth Bison baseball player ever to earn Academic All-America, joining Kevin Burton (1995), Jason Nappi (2011) and Davis Richardson (2015).

Smith, a native of Fayetteville, Arkansas, hit .333 with five home runs and 24 RBIs and collected Second Team All-GAC during the 2022 season. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in May 2021 and is pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree in management and business ethics. He had an undergraduate GPA of 3.97 and has a 4.00 GPA in his graduate school work.

All nominees for this award must have reached sophomore status, carry a 3.30 cumulative GPA and boast noteworthy academic and athletic achievements.

There are more than 1,000 student-athletes playing baseball in NCAA Division II. Only 35 of them earned Academic All-America.