George Nunnelley
Auburn Athletics Department
Senior infielder Rankin Woley’s list of academic accolades grew longer as he was named the Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Friday morning.
Woley becomes Auburn baseball’s third SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and first since 2010, joining Ben Jones (2009) and Cory Luckie (2010).
The Atlanta native, who has already been named 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District and Auburn’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, holds a 3.96 cumulative GPA and turned in a 4.0 GPA for the 2019-20 academic year. He is set to graduate this summer with a degree in business administration from Auburn’s Harbert College of Business.
A season ago, Woley helped lead the Tigers to the program’s first College World Series appearance since 1997 and earned the NCAA Elite 90 Academic Recognition Award. He was also named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.
On the diamond, Woley played and started in 82 of the team’s 84 games in the last two seasons. He led the 2019 Tigers in doubles and ranked second on the team in hits and RBI. Coming off his debut season, Woley was named Preseason Second Team All-SEC by the league’s head coaches. Prior to the abrupt ending of the 2020 season, he led the team in average, doubles and RBI and was the only player in the country to rank in the top 20 in hits, doubles and RBI.