TALLAHASSEE – Freshman Alier Maluk is one of five Seminoles who has been named to the All-ACC Academic men’s basketball team marking the second consecutive season and second time in school history that at least five Seminoles have been named to the prestigious academic team by the ACC.

Maluk, who will return to Florida State’s roster for his second season in the garnet and gold, led a list of five Seminoles that includes Jamir Watkins, Jerry Deng, Daquan Davis, and Christian Nitu. It marked the second consecutive season that at least five Seminoles have been named to the All-ACC men’s basketball team.

Maluk, a communications major, credited his parents, his academic advisors, and professors with challenging him be the best he could be during his first collegiate year as a student-athlete.

“There was one golden rule my parents had when I was growing up — it was that academics and doing well with my school work always came first,” said Maluk.  “Academic success to my parents has always been more important than basketball success on their list of priorities. The main thing I learned about doing well in school during my freshman season at Florida State was time management. If you manage your time well it becomes easier to complete your assignments, to study, and do well on your exams.”

In being named to the team for the second consecutive year, Watkins joins an elite group of seven Seminoles (Charlie Ward, Oliver Simmons, Andrew Wilson, Luke Loucks, Trent Forrest, Baba Miller, and Watkins) who have been named to the All-ACC men’s basketball team multiple times.

Watkins, who was named to All-District Academic team by the College Sports Communicators, and to the All-ACC Second-Team by the conference’s 18 head coaches, will earn his bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary social science on May 3 from FSU. He has earned numerous academic honors during his collegiate career. Watkins was named to the 2020 Academic Honor Roll at VCU, was named to the 2024 All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball team, the 2024 ACC Academic Honor Roll, the 2024 NABC Academic Honors Court, and earned FSU Academic Dean’s List honors in the fall of 2024.

“My academic success in college has been very important to me and my family,” said Watkins. “It will be especially important to my family when I finish my requirements and am presented with my degree during graduation ceremonies later this week.”

In order to be named to the All-ACC Academic team, players must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average for their careers and during the most recently completed semester, and must have appeared in at least 50 percent of his teams’ games during the 2024-25 season.

Florida State’s ACC All-Academic Men’s Basketball Team History

1992 – Ron Miller, Charlie Ward, Byron Wells

1993 – Charlie Ward

1998 – Kyle Mulligan, Oliver Simmons

1999 – Oliver Simmons

2000 – Oliver Simmons

2001 – David Anderson

2002 – Michael Joiner, Anthony Richardson

2003 — Todd Galloway, Marcell Haywood, Mike Mathews, Andrew Wilson

2004 – Von Wafer, Andrew Wilson

2005 – Andrew Wilson

2008 – Matt Zitani

2010 – Luke Loucks

2011 – Luke Loucks

2012 – Luke Loucks

2016 – Dwayne Bacon

2017 – Trent Forrest

2018 – Trent Forrest

2019 – Mfiondu Kabengele, Trent Forrest

2020 – Trent Forrest, Devin Vassell

2021 – Balsa Koprivica, Sardaar Calhoun

2022 – Matthew Cleveland, Anthony Polite

2023 – Tom House, Baba Miller

2024 – Taylor Bol Bowen, Jaylan Gainey, Darin Green, Tom House, Baba Miller, Josh Nickelberry, Jamir Watkins

2025 – Daquan Davis, Jerry Deng, Alier Maluk, Christian Nitu, Jamir Watkins