PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Commissioner Mike Aresco has announced that Cincinnati’s Ryan Leahy and Navy’s E.K. Binns – a pair of all-conference offensive guards - have been chosen as the 2015 American Athletic Conference Football Scholar-Athletes of the Year. The selections were made by the conference’s Academic Affairs Committee and are presented on the basis of academic credentials and athletic performance.
Leahy, a senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, and Binns, a senior from Cape Coral, Florida, will each receive a $2,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies.
Leahy started all 13 games at offensive guard for the Bearcats and was a key component to one of the nation’s most prolific offenses. Cincinnati finished the 2015 season ranked sixth nationally in both total offense (559.4 yards per game) and passing offense (359.9 ypg). Leahy, who played in 25 career games, was chosen as an all-conference second team selection in 2015 and helped Cincinnati reach a bowl game in each of the last three seasons.
In addition to his on-field accomplishments, Leahy registered a 3.62 grade-point average as an undergraduate, earning a bachelor’s degree in operations management. He is enrolled in Cincinnati’s graduate business administration program.
Binns was a key performer for Navy, which finished the 2015 season at 11-2 overall, 7-1 in the American Athletic Conference and at No. 18 in the final national polls, marking the first time since 1963 that the Midshipmen finished the season in the top 25. Binns started 12 games at offensive guard as part of an offense that finished second nationally in rushing (326.7 ypg) and ranked ninth nationally in fewest sacks allowed (1.08 per game).
Binns was chosen as an all-conference first team selection by The American’s head coaches and he was named a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America selection. He was one of 12 finalists for the Campbell Trophy, presented by the National Football Foundation to the top scholar-athlete in college football.
Binns, who has a 3.42 grade-point average as an economics concentrator, will serve as a naval flight officer upon his graduation from the Naval Academy.
The Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor is one of a number of scholarships presented by the American Athletic Conference during the 2015-16 academic year. The conference also names winners of the league’s Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships, which go to one male and one female student-athlete at each of the conference’s member institutions. The American additionally names male and female Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
The winners of the institutional, football and basketball awards are then eligible for the American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which provides an additional postgraduate scholarship to one male and one female student-athlete.
American Athletic Conference Football Scholar-Athletes of the Year
2013 Ryan Alderman, WR, Temple
2014 Charles Harris, LB, Memphis
2015 Ryan Leahy, OG, Cincinnati
E.K. Binns, OG, Navy