Two members of this year’s ECU football team received academic honors on Tuesday.
Below are more details from ECU Sports Information.
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Photo illustration (ECU Sports Information)
East Carolina linebacker Jackson Barker and graduate student Triston O’Brien have been named to the 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team the organization announced Tuesday.
To be considered for the honor, student-athletes must accumulate a cumulative GPA at or above 3.50 while being a starter or key reserve. In football, a player must have competed in 90 percent of the team’s games or have started at least 66 percent of the squad’s contests.
Barker, who also earned CSC accolades in 2023, is an exercise physiology major, sporting a 3.55 undergraduate GPA. Prior to the Go Bowling Military Bowl, he was named The American’s STEM Scholar-Athlete honoree for 2025. On the field, he played in all 13 games on defense and as a member of several Pirate special teams’ units. Barker tallied 21 tackles (nine solo) with 1.5 TFLs (-3 yards), 1.0 sack (-2 yards) and recovered two fumbles including one in ECU’s 23-17 win over Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl. He closed out the season booking five tackles on special teams sharing the honor with Jonathan Jean.
O’Brien, who graduated in December of 2025 with a masters in business administration, compiled a 3.87 GPA. Prior to transferring to ECU, he earned his undergraduate degree in business finance from the University of Cincinnati in 2024.
On the field, he garnered Second Team All-American Conference accolades and was a third team all-conference selection by Phil Steele Magazine. O’Brien appeared in all 13 games for the Pirates as the long snapper. He delivered successful snaps on 48 punts, 19 field goal attempts and 51 PATs becoming an instrumental member of the special team’s unit. In all, he helped his unit tally 101 total points helping Nick Mazzie to a perfect 43 of 43 on PATs and 16 of 19 on FGAs. The punting unit averaged 39.8 yards per kick (48 for 1,909 yards) with 10 landing inside the opponents 20-yard line and no blocks for the second consecutive season.