​139 Rutgers Atheletes were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars last Monday as the Scarlet Knight athletes continue to prove that they really do go to class. Last year, Rutgers 132 players named to the honor, but was able to surpass that as 139 were honored this time around, making this the sixth consecutive year that at least 125 athletes were honored.The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar award was established in 2008 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must have earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition in the previous academic year, must have been enrolled full time at the institution for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters), and must have earned a minimum GPA of 3.70 or better during the previous academic year, excluding any summer grades. These requirements are more rigorous than the Academic All-Big Ten requirements because that only requires that an athlete maintain a 3.0 GPA.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement30 Rutgers athletes earned 4.0 GPA’s last year. A link to the list including all of the athletes is available here.Women’s rowing led the way among the programs, having 21 total athletes honored. Behind them were men’s track and field/ cross country and football tied with 14, and women’s Lacrosse and women’s track and field tied at 13.