On Saturday, 29 Mustangs received Conference USA’s annual Commissioner’s Academic Medal award, honoring a player’s academic excellence over the course of an entire academic year.

 The Commissioner’s Academic Medal award is awarded to student athletes throughout the conference who achieve at least a 3.75 GPA during the course of the academic year.

 All 12 of Conference USA’s members had players receive the award, and a total of 538 student-athletes received the conference’s annual award.

For the third straight year, Tulsa (61) had the most players receive the award, While Memphis came in second with 54 recipients and East Carolina followed with 48.

SMU’s 29 recipients ranks tied for 10th in the conference.

SMU, who will move to the American Athletic Conference (formerly known as the Big East) in July, had 12 sports represented among the medal recipients. The women’s swimming and diving teams had six student-athletes win the award, the most by a SMU sports program.

Among the other sports represented were: women’s cross country (2), equestrian (3), football (4), women’s golf (2), women’s rowing (2), men’s soccer (1), men’s swimming and diving (2), men’s tennis (1), women’s tennis (3), women’s track and field (1) and volleyball (2).

The men’s and women’s basketball teams, along with men’s golf and women’s soccer were the four SMU sports programs to not have any player receive the award.