Perez Agaba

Classroom

Perez has maintained a 4.0 GPA in Biomedical Engineering throughout his collegiate career while minoring in Pre-Med/Mathematics. He’s earned vitually every individual academic honor allowed, including being named ESPN First Team Academic All-America by CoSIDA in 2010 and later being tabbed the Summit League’s Scholar Athlete of the Year. He’s been on IUPUI’s Academic Advisor’s List every semester of his academic career and became the program’s first Academic All-American since 2003. Additionally, he’s a three-time Academic All-Summit League pick and was a 2010 Bepko Scholarship honoree for Outstanding Academic Achievement. He’s become a fixture on the School of Engineering & Technology Dean’s List and been given the school’s Alumni Association Golf Classic Award three times.

Character

Perez is the epitome of a feel good story. He was primarily raised by his mother and older siblings after losing his father in an automobile accident while living in Uganda in 1993. His family lacked the resources to consistently keep him in school, ultimately showing him that education would be his ticket to a better life. He later ranked among the top youth achievers in Uganda and was chosen to study at the Brooks School in Massachusetts on a foreign exchange program. He chose to attend IUPUI despite heavy interest from multiple Ivy League schools to have the opportunity to study in a major metropolitan location. He’s now established a goal of attending medical school in the U.S. and practicing a couple years before ultimately returning to Uganda to establish medical clinics to better the quality of life in his homeland. In addition, while going through a recent coaching change, Perez will be counted on to provide veteran leadership amongst his teammates. He was an assistant captain his junior year and should continue that leadership role this season.

Community

Perez takes his commitments to the community very seriously. Entering his senior year, he was awarded the IUPUI Michael A. Carroll Scholarship, primarily based on his community involvement. He’s a mentor at Harshman Elementary School within the Indianapolis Public School (IPS) system, visiting with students on a weekly basis to discuss the importance of education at a young age. He’s also assisted with the Urban Soccer Development Program in Indianapolis, Project Lead the Way and is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers, Engineers Without Borders and the IUPUI Biomedical Engineering Club.

Competition

Perez was named an NSCAA/Performance Subaru Second Team All-Midwest Region performer in 2010 and voted Second Team All-Summit League by the conference coaches. In 2008, he was picked to the Summit League’s All-Newcomer Team and voted IUPUI’s Top Newcomer. To date he’s scored 11 goals and collected six assists in 54 career games. Of his 11 goals, five have been game-winners as he’s ranked among the Summit’s top five in that category in two of the past three years. He’s also twice earned a spot on the Summit League’s All-Tournament Team.