Former Zag Kelly Olynyk says he didn’t skip a class as Gonzaga undergrad

Kelly Olynyk was an Academic All-American at Gonzaga and he revealed one of the reasons why during a recent public appearance.

The Boston Celtics big man, speaking at an event honoring Boston area students with perfect attendance and notable academic achievement, said he didn’t skip a single class as a GU undergrad, according to MassLive.com’s Jay King.

Olynyk obviously didn’t have perfect attendance overall because the Zags played 58 road/neutral-site games during his three seasons. In addition to his speech, Olynyk participated in numerous carnival games with the students.

Olynyk earned a 3.53 grade-point average while completing his accounting degree. He is one of six players in the last 20 years to be a first-team All-American and Academic All-American. That list includes former Zags’ Dan Dickau and Nigel Williams-Goss.

Olynyk emerged as an All-American after redshirting following his sophomore season. He was drafted 13th overall by Dallas and promptly traded to Boston.

Olynyk averaged 9 points and 4.8 points this season. He scored 26 points, 14 in the fourth quarter, to carry Boston past Washington in the seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The restricted free agent had career highs in field-goal percentage (51.2) and assists (2.0 per game).

Staying with the academic theme, the Boston Globe recently gave Olynyk a “B” grade for the season.