With a sustained grade point average of 3.7 or higher while contributing to their varsity football teams, senior Logan Joellenbeck from Foley and junior Kolin Wilson from Gulf Shores were recognized with a spot on High School Football America’s fourth-annual Academic All-American team for Alabama.

HSFA has started announcing this year’s honorees, which include more than 4,000 student-athletes from across the country, by state alphabetically. Alabama had 118 football players recognized when the team was announced on Monday, April 1. Illinois through New York were scheduled for an April 3 release, North Carolina through Tennessee are set to follow on April 4 before Texas through Wyoming round things out on April 5.

Joellenbeck and Wilson join more than 14,000 high school football players who have garnered Academic All-American distinction since HSFA’s initiative began in 2020. Each athlete played a crucial role in the 2023 season and were recognized by the Alabama Sports Writers Association as first-team all-state players for their classification.

On the Lions’ offensive line, Joellenbeck (6-foot-6, 330 pounds) helped pave the way for running back Kolten Nero to set single-game and single-season rushing yard records in Foley’s 100th varsity season. He was also named to the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s North-South All-Star Classic and signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the South Alabama Jaguars.

At running back for the Dolphins, Wilson (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) had a similarly historic season as Gulf Shores went undefeated to win its first state championship. Wilson broke out of the gates with the longest touchdown run in program history in Week 1 before he finished with 2,356 all-purpose yards and 33 touchdowns between 2,010 on the ground, 231 through the air and 115 on kickoff returns.