Kenta Miyoshi earns spot on prestigious academic all-america first team

Brad Dancer Head Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website

By Chambana Sun

Jun 4, 2025

After a successful year both on the tennis courts and academically, Kenta Miyoshi has been named to the Academic All-America First Team by College Sports Communicators. This announcement was made on Wednesday.

Miyoshi is the first student-athlete from his program to receive this honor and is the first from Illinois to be recognized as an Academic All-American since 2013. He joins six other Division I student-athletes nationwide on the First Team, including UCLA's Alexander Hoogmartens, making him one of only two Big Ten athletes to achieve this distinction.

Originally from Kawasaki, Japan, Miyoshi had an outstanding season in 2024-25. He earned the Big Ten Player of the Year award and received ITA Singles All-America honors along with unanimous All-Big Ten First Team status. During his junior year, he achieved a career-high of 30 singles wins and finished ranked No. 10 in ITA singles after remaining in the top 20 throughout spring.

Miyoshi is majoring in strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship and has also received CSC Academic All-District accolades for two consecutive seasons.

The history of Illinois' Academic All-America selections includes several notable names:

- Andrew Lobb (Second Team) in 1987

- Oliver Freelove (Second Team) in 1999

- Jakub Teply (Second Team) in 1999

- Chris Martin (Second Team) from 2003 to 2005

- Bruno Abdelnour (Second Team) in 2013

- Kenta Miyoshi (First Team) in 2025

The CSC Academic All-America Teams for this year are as follows:

First Team:

- Pierre-Yves Bailey, Texas

- Jay Friend, Arizona

- Alexander Hoogmartens, UCLA