Fred VanVleet

Classroom

Fred VanVleet is a sociology major and will graduate in May of 2016.

Character

VanVleet was the graduation speaker at his alma mater, Rockford Auburn High School in Rockford, Ill., during the 2014 commencement ceremony. He also was a guest coach at a summer basketball camp at Emporia State University, a Division II university in Kansas.

Community

For multiple years, VanVleet has helped with the following efforts: Shocks, Cops & Kids (an educational program with inner-city youth and some basketball lessons); multiple elementary school visits at which he’d speak about the importance of school and working hard; retirement home visits; meet and greet with participants of the American Heart Walk; and Kansas Kids @ Gear Up, which works to increase the number of students in foster care.

Competition

VanVleet has won numerous awards during his career: first-team Preseason All-American (multiple media outlets), 2014-15 honorable mention AP All-American, two-time MVC All-Defensive Team selection, two-time MVC All-Tournament Team member, two-time MVC All-Conference Team selection, 2013-14 third-team All American, and 2013-14 MVC Player of the Year. VanVleet is the career leader in assists at Wichita State and could become the program’s career leader in steals as well this season. At the beginning of the season he was the nation’s active winningest senior with 95 career wins (seven of them from the NCAA Tournament), and was 15 away from tying Tekele Cotton for the winningest player in program history. VanVleet has scored more than 1,000 points in his career. He was invited to attend Team USA’s training camp to compete for a roster spot on its 2015 Summer Pan-Am games squad, and he has been named to the Naismith, Oscar Robertson and Wooden Preseason watch lists and was a finalist for both the Bob Cousy Award (top point guard) and Lute Olson Award in 2013-14. This year VanVleet was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year for the second time in his Shocker career. For the third year in a row he landed on both the All-MVC First Team and All-MVC Defensive squads. A three-time conference player of the week, VanVleet was named to the Wooden Award Late Season 20. He averaged 12.0 points and a career-high 5.7 assists while sporting a 3.31 assist-to-turnover ratio during the regular season to help lead Wichita State to its third-consecutive regular season conference title. VanVleet set a new Valley record by participating in 63 career conference wins. His 118 total wins ranks him among the winningest seniors in college hoops, and he’s one of just five active players in Division I with a combo of 600 career assists and 200 steals.