UC Athletics
Tommy Chasanoff, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information 

AUSTIN, Texas – Bryan Leef has excelled on the field and in the classroom since arriving at UC in August 2018, and on Monday the senior earned another recognition for his achievements as he was named a 2020 CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America®. Leef becomes the Patriots first position player, and just the second player in program history, to earn this honor.

Leef, a reigning NAIA All-American Honorable Mention, was hitting .367 with 33 hits, 29 RBI and nine home runs when the 2020 season was cut short.  The senior recorded eight multi-hit games, including going 4-5 with five RBI in the 10-8 win over Union.  Two of Leef’s most memorable moments from the season were smashing the go-ahead three-run homer in that game and his 15th inning two-run walk-off blast against Huntington.  The Yorba Linda, CA native is ranked in the top 20 in the NAIA in triples (3), total bases (72), runs scored (31), and home runs (9).

For his career, Leef has posted a .384 average to go along with a .461 on-base percentage and a .837 slugging percentage.  In addition to that, he has notched 101 hits, 90 RBIs, 87 runs scored, 29 home runs, and seven triples.  Leef currently ranks second in program history with a .384 career batting average and is tied for the program record for most homers in a season with 20, which he set in 2019.

In his first season with the Patriots, Leef posted a Mid-South Conference best .393 average, 61 RBI, and 20 homers.  That performance earned him a spot on the MSC First Team All-Conference Team and an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention nod.  He was also instrumental in helping the seventh-ranked Patriots Baseball team to the 2019 Mid-South Conference regular-season title and the top-seed in the NAIA Opening Round.

Cumberlands recorded a 22-3 record before the season was halted. The Patriots won 17 straight games to open the season in addition to taking the conference series, 2-1, over MSC rival Campbellsville.  It was the third straight road series in which the Patriots bested the Tigers.

It marks the second straight year that the Patriots baseball program had a student-athlete earn CoSIDA First Team Academic-All-America® honors as Zach Hurley received this distinction in 2019.

The 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Baseball Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The NAIA Academic All-America® program is financially supported by the NAIA national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 NAIA Academic All-America® teams.

Despite the cancellation of spring competition during COVID-19, CoSIDA continued its sponsorship of the Academic All-America® awards program. Student-athletes were selected based on career statistics.