30 MEN’S AND 30 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CANDIDATES FOR 2008-09 LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
December 19, 2008
Download in PDF format(Kansas City, MO) – Thirty senior male and female NCAA college basketball players were announced today as candidates for the 2008-09 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports. Based on criteria focusing on the “Four C’s” of classroom, character, community and competition, the award winners will be selected by national balloting of head basketball coaches, national media and college basketball fans.
Lowe’s, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, will present the winners with trophies during the weekends of the respective NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings.
The list of 2008-09 basketball candidates (Download PDF list) includes a range of universities and conferences across the country. Male award candidates represent 27 different schools; the University of Memphis, University of North Carolina (at Chapel Hill) and University of Texas (at Austin) each have two candidates. Players from 14 different conferences are among the men’s nominees. The Big 12 Conference leads the way with five candidates.
All 30 female award candidates hail from a different university. While 18 conferences are included among the list of nominees, the Big 12 Conference again landed the most with five female candidates.
Schools that placed both a male and female student-athlete on the roster of candidates include Duke University, Marquette University, University of North Carolina, and the University of Pittsburgh.
“At Lowe’s, we take pride in acknowledging hard work and outstanding accomplishments both on and off the court,” said Bob Gfeller, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing and advertising. “That commitment extends beyond our employees and customers and into the communities we serve where these student-athletes become real-life mentors. We’re thrilled to honor each candidate’s contributions and look forward to recognizing the award recipients at the men’s and women’s Final Four.”
From each of the two lists of 30 nominees, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in February 2009. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote. In addition to voting by Division I head basketball coaches and national media, college basketball fans will also be able to submit ballots by text voting or on-line at http://www.seniorclassaward.com.
The award was conceived by sportscaster Dick Enberg, who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman. It was inspired by the remarkable story of former Duke University basketball player Shane Battier, who could have been an NBA lottery pick but returned to college for his senior season and led the Blue Devils to the National Championship in 2001.
The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award is in its eighth year for men’s and women’s basketball. Previous winners of the men’s award include Juan Dixon of Maryland (2002), David West of Xavier (2003), Jameer Nelson of St. Joseph’s (2004), Wayne Simien of Kansas (2005), J.J. Reddick of Duke (2006), Alando Tucker of Wisconsin (2007) and Shan Foster of Vanderbilt (2008).
Recipients of the women’s award include Sue Bird of Connecticut (2002), LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State (2003), Alana Beard of Duke (2004), Kendra Wecker of Kansas State (2005), Seimone Augustus of LSU (2006), Alison Bales of Duke (2007) and Candice Wiggins of Stanford (2008).
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ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: classroom, community, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards that a senior season can bring. For more information, visit http://www.seniorclassaward.com.
ABOUT LOWE’S
With fiscal year 2007 sales of $48.3 billion, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE® 50 company that serves approximately 14 million customers a week at more than 1,625 home improvement stores in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit http://www.lowes.com
ABOUT THE NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit http://www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association.
MEDIA CONTACT
Melynda Stein
Premier Sports Management - Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award
Phone: 913-681-6990 x17
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Website: http://www.seniorclassaward.com
