Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina football landed six players on the 2025 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team released today. Graduate senior defensive end Micah Nelson, senior punter Stephen Brantley, redshirt sophomore offensive linemen Evan Carney and Steven Hamby, as well as transfers in senior wide receiver Painter Richards-Baker and redshirt sophomore long-snapper Emmet Rhoades each collected the all-district recognition.
 
Nelson, twice a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy and one of 13 national finalists for the prestigious Doris Robinson Award, collects his third career Academic All-District honor. He joins former WCU Academic All-America offensive lineman Jason Whaley as the only three-time academic all-district selections in Catamount football history.
 
Third-year punter Stephen Brantley earned his second-straight recognition on the Catamount roster, while starters along the WCU offensive line, Evan Carney and Steven Hamby, both received their first honors. Transfer wide receiver Painter Richards-Baker collects his second Academic All-District honor after earning the recognition at Dartmouth in the fall of 2024, with transfer long-snapper Emmet Rhoades honored for the first time.
 
WCU's six honorees are the second-most in the history of the Academic All-District team, which amended the selection parameters in 2022 to allow all qualifying nominees submitted, up to eight per school, to earn the all-district plaudits. Since 1975, 33 different Catamounts have been named Academic All-District.
 
Nominees are submitted by the media relations or communications offices of each school.
 
Stephen Brantley pulled double duty much of the fall as WCU's starting punter and stepping in as the primary kicker on kickoffs. The Pilot Mountain, N.C., product punted 45 times for 2,024 yards, averaging a career-high 45.0 yards per punt with a career-long 76-yard boot. Brantley had 16 punts of 50 yards or more and downed 14 punts inside the opposition's 20-yard line.
 
Brantley also kicked off 73 combined times, averaging 62.4 yards per kick with 39 kicks going as touchbacks. Majoring in construction management, Brantley carries a cumulative GPA of 3.542. He is a two-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll recipient and was among the Fall 2024 Academic All-SoCon team.
 
Evan Carney and Steven Hamby helped guide a Catamount offense to record numbers in 2025 along the offensive line, finishing with a school-record 5,920 total yards, including 4,268 passing yards and 1,652 yards on the ground. Carney played in 11 of the team's 12 games with 10 starts, while Hamby started seven of the 11 games in which he saw action. Carney entered the fall semester with a 3.78 cumulative GPA, earning his BSBA in marketing in WCU's Fall 2025 Commencement with a 3.74 GPA. Hamby carries a 3.984 grade point average through the fall, while majoring in integrated health sciences.
 
A three-time honoree, Nelson finished the season credited with 24 total tackles, including 10 solo stops and 2.5 for loss. He was also credited with three quarterback hurries this fall. Nelson is a six-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll recipient and is four-time Academic All-SoCon.
 
Originally from Murphy, N.C., Nelson received his Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.Ed.) in Health and Physical Education in May 2024, and earned his master's degree in Sport Management in the December 2025 fall commencement exercise. As part of his final course in his Capstone requirement, Nelson completed a 200-hour internship through the 2025 fall semester, developing a project that he led, combining academics and athletics. His program checked in on freshmen and sophomores within Catamount Athletics, while also working closely with the football academic advisor and student-athlete development. 
 
Selected to the CSC Academic All-District team at Dartmouth in 2024, transfer wideout Painter Richards-Baker earned his second career honor coming as a Catamount. In his lone season for the Purple & Gold, the Hillsborough, N.C., product and Asheville Christ School graduate caught 20 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns. His first reception came against Gardner-Webb, with TD catches coming as part of a season-high six in the home win over Samford and the road victory at Campbell, where he finished with a season-best 99 receiving yards.
 
Richards-Baker carried a 3.70 cumulative GPA to Cullowhee, majoring in sociology. He posted a 4.0 GPA through the fall semester at WCU
 
Rounding out this year's six selections is long-snapper Emmet Rhoades. WCU represents the third school for Rhoades, who redshirted at Florida A&M and played in just one game at Akron in 2024 before coming to Cullowhee. He handled all the snapping duties for the Catamounts on punts and placekicks and was credited with two total tackles on special teams with stops against Gardner-Webb and at Wake Forest. Rhoades has a GPA of 3.80 while majoring in biology, posting a 4.0 in the fall semester at WCU.
 
Five Southern Conference teams were represented on the Academic All-District squads, with Furman and Wofford leading the league with seven selections apiece, followed by WCU with six. Chattanooga and Mercer both had five players selected to the team announced this week.
 
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Western Carolina's All-Time Academic All-District Selections:
1975: Mike Wade, LB
1976: Mike Wade, LB
1984: Eddie Maddox, RB
1985: Eddie Maddox, RB
1992: Thomas Jackson, OL
1993: Thomas Jackson, OL
1994: Chad Greene, QB
1995: Chad Greene, QB
2000: Caesar Campana, WR
2001: Pablo Abraham, DE; Jason Whaley, OL
2002: Jason Whaley, OL
2003: Jason Whaley, OL
2012: Conner Orr, TE; Clark Sechrest, P; Rock Williams, LB
2014: Darius Ramsey, RB; Richard Sigmon, PK
2015: Derrick Davis, DT; Darius Ramsey, RB; Daniel Riddle, LB
2016: Andrew Mayton, DE; A.J. Newman, LB
2017: A.J. Newman, LB
2022: Marlon Alexander, DL; Clayton Bardall, TE; Brandon Dickerson, P; Richard McCollum, PK; Micah Nelson, DE
2023: Marlon Alexander, DL; Clayton Bardall, TE; Colby Cross, LS; Richard McCollum, PK; Giovanni Ricciardi, LB
2024: Stephen Brantley, P; AJ Colombo, WR; Colby Cross, LS; Xavier Graham, OL; Micah Nelson, DE; Kenyon Partridge, DB; Blake Whitmore, OL; Jake Young, TE
2025: Stephen Brantley, P, Evan Carney, OL, Steven Hamby, OL, Micah Nelson, DE, Painter Richards-Baker, WR, Emmet Rhoades, LS