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Program honors highest achieving student-athletes for combined academic and athletic success across all divisions of intercollegiate athletics

For Immediate Release

Monday, January 31, 2011

Contact(s)

Gail Dent
NCAA
317/917-6117

Sukhi Sahni
Capital One
703/720-2390

McLEAN, VA – Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) today announced a partnership with the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) to become the title sponsor of the Academic All-America® Program, the nation’s premier intercollegiate athletics scholar-athlete awards  program.

As part of its partnership, Capital One receives immediate entitlement of the program – the Capital One Academic All-America® Program - as well as for each of its individual programs, including the Academic All-America® and Academic All-District Teams, Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year, the Academic All-Americas® of the Year  and the Academic All-America Hall of Fame®, established in 1988, to honor the Academic All-America selections that have gone on to outstanding achievements in their chosen careers. 

“The Academic All-America Program is one of the most reputable and recognized student-athlete awards in intercollegiate athletics” said Capital One Chief Marketing Officer, Bill McDonald. “As a national supporter of student-athletes and their quest for excellence on the field and in the classroom, Capital One is proud to help shine a spotlight on these individuals and their outstanding achievements. We look forward to working with CoSIDA to grow awareness around this program even more in the future.”

The Academic All-America® program has honored thousands of student-athletes since its inception in 1952. It encompasses all sports in which the NCAA conducts championships. There are separate teams selected in football, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and men’s and women’s track and cross-country. For student-athletes in other sports, such as swimming, tennis, golf, hockey, they are eligible for the men’s and women’s at-large programs. The Academic All-District teams (in eight geographic districts) are voted on by the CoSIDA membership at large, with First Team selections advancing to the national Capital One Academic All-America® ballot. At that point, First Team, Second Team and Third Team Academic All-America® performers are chosen by the Academic All-America Committee members and CoSDIA Board of Directors.

 “When you have one of America’s largest and most visible corporate sponsors step up to support and enhance the CoSIDA Academic All-America program, it shows the value and utmost importance of our educational goals and platforms,” said West Virginia University Director of Athletics, Oliver Luck. “As a member of the Academic All-America Hall of Fame, I want to commend Capital One for its vision in providing important promotional and media support that will help thousands of student-athletes excel and become future leaders."

Currently, a Capital One Academic All-America® University Division (NCAA Division I participants) team and a College Division team (combining NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, Canadian, and two-year schools) are selected for each sport category. Beginning with the 2011-12 academic year, this national program will grow to four programs - with NCAA Division I, Division II and Division III teams and a separate College Division program combining NAIA, Canadian and two-year school honorees.

The Capital One Academic All-America® Program is a highly selective scholar-athlete honor.  Approximately 1,950 of the 12,000 student-athletes nominated annually receive "First-Team Academic All-District" honors, and only 820 currently gain the prestigious Capital One Academic All-America® honor; of those 820, only 288 earn prestigious Academic All-America® First Team accolades.  

"Capital One is the perfect partner for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program as it truly understands the mission of intercollegiate athletics and how the Academic All-America program extols the true meaning of student-athlete,” said Larry Dougherty, CoSIDA President. “Through this new partnership, CoSIDA and Capital One will be able to enhance the visibility of the Academic All-America program like never before, something that is very important to the entire intercollegiate community."

Capital One’s partnership with CoSIDA expands the company’s support of intercollegiate athletics and student-athletes and universities. Capital One became an NCAA® Corporate Champion in 2010 and created the Capital One Cup, a new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men’s and women’s sports. 

“CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program is a wonderful opportunity to highlight and recognize student-athletes’ academic success, which can often go unnoticed,” said Peter Davis, NCAA Director of Corporate Alliances. “Capital One’s commitment to the All-America program and student-athletes who are successful both in the classroom and on the field will assist in advancing the program’s profile within the intercollegiate community and among fans everywhere.”

About Capital One       

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $122.2 billion in deposits and     $197.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2010. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Week. In 2010, Capital One launched the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men’s and women’s sports. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.

About CoSIDA

The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), now in its 55^th year as an organization, was founded in 1957-making it the second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics. Today, it is a vibrant 2,700-plus member national association comprised of the sports public relations, communications and information professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. CoSIDA has two primary missions as it seeks to have its profession, organization and membership take its rightful leadership role within the decision-making levels of the intercollegiate athletics community: 

1) Help the communications professionals at all collegiate levels with professional development and continuing education as it relates to strategically dealing in an effective manner with the various issues, challenges and opportunities that now exist within the fast-paced and ever-changing communications environment. 2) Play a significant leadership and resource role (i.e. “Strategic Communicators for College Athletics”) within the overall enterprise of collegiate athletics thus helping the other management groups and their respective memberships deal with a set of communications-based issues that is the most complex and challenging in history. 

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