(LEBANON, Ill., June 24)—McKendree University junior defensive lineman Lucky Baar (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) has collected second-team pre-season NCAA Division II All-America honors from Lindy's Magazine, a noted college football preview publication.
 
Baar, who will be entering his third season as a starter along the defensive front for the Bearcats, is coming off a stellar sophomore campaign in 2014. Baar led all NCAA Division II players with 18 quarterback sacks and a 1.64 sack-per-game average last season. He established new season records for both sacks and tackles for loss (26 ½) for both McKendree and the Great Lakes Valley Conference a year ago. Baar finished the season with 65 total tackles, which was good for third on the McKendree squad. He also led the Bearcats with three forced fumbles while adding a fumble recovery and one interception in 2014.
 
In a 53-43 McKendree victory last October at Southwest Baptist University, Baar set new team and conference records by recording 5 ½ sacks. He closed the season with multi-sack games in four of the Bearcats' final five games, which all resulted in victories for McKendree. He was named the 2014 GLVC Defensive Player of the Year and was a three-time GLVC Defensive Player of the Week honoree. Following the 2014 season, Baar was named to the Associated Press Little All-America Team. He also garnered first-team All-America honors from the Beyond Sports Network
 
The McKendree University football team closed the 2014 season a 5-6 overall record. The Bearcats were 5-3 in GLVC play and finished in a tie for second place in the final league standings. McKendree is set to kick off its 2015 season at home on Sept. 5 against the College of Faith at Leemon Field. Game time will be at 6 p.m.