Lincoln – A total of 12 current and former Husker student-athletes across all sports will earn their undergraduate degrees from the University of Nebraska during commencement exerciseson Saturday starting at 9 a.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Coach Bo Pelini’s Nebraska football program provides more than half of the Husker graduates, as seven student-athletes from the program will earn degrees. Senior linebacker Zaire Anderson, senior offensive lineman Jake Cotton and junior offensive lineman Kevin Williams will enter the 2014 season with their bachelor’s degrees in hand. Anderson and Cotton join safety Corey Cooper as Husker seniors who have graduated prior to the kickoff of the 2014 season. Nebraska’s other 10 senior football student-athletes are all on track to graduate in December of 2013.

Other former Husker football players who will claim their degrees on Saturday are Harvey Jackson, Tobi Okuyemi, Andrew Rodriguez and Donovan Vestal, who all completed their Nebraska playing careers in 2013.

Coach Chuck Chmelka’s men’s gymnastics program added a pair of graduates to Nebraska’s class, led by All-American Wyatt Aycock. He was joined by Zach Hedval.

Nebraska men’s basketball student-athlete Mike Peltz, track and field student-athlete Maggie Maher and swimmer Ariel Weech rounded out the Husker graduating class.

The group of 12 Huskers came to Nebraska from seven U.S. states and the Bahamas, while earning degrees after declaring 10 different academic majors.

Nebraska continues to feature one of the highest graduation rates in the nation, while leading the nation in the number of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans (314) and NCAA Top Ten Award winners (17) across all sports.

August 2014 Nebraska Student-Athlete Graduates (12)

Student-Athlete                   Sport                                      Hometown                                           Major

Zaire Anderson                    Football                                 Philadelphia, Pa.                                 Child, Youth & Family Studies

Wyatt Aycock                        Men’s Gymnastics               Orlando, Fla.                                         Biological Sciences

Jake Cotton                          Football                                 Lincoln, Neb.                                        History

Zach Hedval                         Men’s Gymnastics               Santee, Calif.                                       Political Science

Harvey Jackson                   Football                                 Fresno, Texas                                      Construction Management

Maggie Maher                      Track & Field                        Kearney, Neb.                                      Special Education-Mild/Moderate 7-12

Tobi Okuyemi                       Football                                 Maple Grove, Minn.                             Psychology

Mike Peltz                             Men’s Basketball                 Alliance, Neb.                                       Business Administration

Andrew Rodriguez              Football                                 Aurora, Neb.                                         Ethnic Studies

Donovan Vestal                   Football                                 Arlington, Texas                                   Ethnic Studies

Ariel Weech                          Swimming & Diving            Nassau, Bahamas                              Psychology

Kevin Williams                     Football                                 Holland, Ohio                                       Management