Zane Najdawi

Classroom

Zane Najdawi takes a 3.393 GPA into his senior year. He has contracted with the U.S. Air Force and is taking extra courses to prepare for commissioning upon graduation. Najdawi has earned two gold stars for a perfect 4.0 GPA within a semester. He was named to the 2017-18 NABC Honors Court, given the 2017-18 SoCon Commissioner’s Medal (3.8 GPA or higher for the year), honored twice on the Southern Conference Honor Roll (2017-18, 2016-17), and named Southern Conference Academic All-Conference (Spring 2018).

Character

“You cannot say enough good things about Zane. He’s a great cadet, a great teammate and just an all-around great guy. A few words I would use to describe Zane are ‘caring,’ ‘hard-working’ and ‘dedicated.’ Zane truly cares about those around him over himself. He is a team- and others-first kind of person who will look to help his teammates, friends, family and strangers before helping himself. If someone is having a bad day at practice or a bad game, he is right there to offer an encouraging word, a smile and a pat on the back. He is a member of our Athletics Cadre, which is a group of upperclassmen who help the knobs (freshmen) get acclimated to life in the Corps. If somebody needs something, he is always the first one to help. He is always one of the first in the gym before practices, games and workouts, and he is usually one of the last to leave. That, along with his stellar grades, shows just how dedicated he is to not just becoming a better basketball player, but becoming a better student and person.” - Milledge Austin, Associate Director of Athletic Communications

Community

Najdawi is a member of Athletic Cadre, a group that prepares incoming freshmen cadet-athletes for life in the Corps as well as helping sophomores become leaders within the Corps. He also is scheduled to commission into the Air Force upon graduation. He has helped the team collect donations for Hurricane Florence relief.

Competition

Najdawi became just the 27th player in SoCon history and second player in program history to eclipse 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks for his career. He ended his junior campaign 18th in program history for points scored in a career (1,206) and third for blocked shots (140). His nine career double-doubles has him tied for ninth all-time in program history. He was named to the All-SoCon First Team by both the coaches and the media, becoming just the fourth player in program history to earn first-team honors from both groups. Najdawi was also named to the NABC All-District 22 First Team, the SoCon Player of the Week four times, tabbed the College Sports Madness SoCon Player of the Week once (Jan. 14), named to CollegeInsider.com contributing writer Angela Lento’s “My5” for the week of Feb. 6, named a HoopsHD.com All-Conference Team selection twice (2017-18, 2016-17), and he trained with the Jordanian Men’s National Team during the summer of 2018 in the FIAB tournament.