OVERLAND PARK, KAN. -- Drake senior guard Josh Young (Lawton, Okla.) is one of 30 NCAA men's basketball student-athletes, who excel both on and off the court, who are candidates for the 2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - classroom, character, community and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in SchoolTM, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
This year's candidate class includes 25 players on the preseason watch lists for the men's and women's John R. Wooden Award, eight men's players who are candidates for the AT&T Naismith Trophy, 11 women's players who are preseason favorites for the State Farm Wade Trophy and three men's and women's players who finished their junior seasons as all-Americans. There are four players recognized last year as ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans. Eleven men's players are from teams ranked in the preseason top 25 poll; while 11 women represent teams ranked in the top 25 women's preseason poll. Of the 60 candidates, 13 have cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or higher and three have maintained perfect 4.0 GPAs during their collegiate academic careers.
Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS AwardTM winner for men's basketball at the 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four® in Indianapolis in April.
The list of 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists each midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition.
"Lowe's is proud to be associated with the nominees for the Senior CLASS AwardTM in men's and women's basketball," said Tom Lamb, Lowe's senior vice president of marketing. "Each of the student-athletes has shown tremendous commitment to their studies during their college careers. They have also demonstrated great character and a passion for community service."
This marks the ninth year for the basketball division of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Previous winners of the men's basketball 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. Redick of Duke (2006), Alando Tucker of Wisconsin (2007), Shan Foster of Vanderbilt (2008) and Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina (2009). Past 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), Candice Wiggins of Stanford (2008) and Courtney Paris of Oklahoma (2009).
# # # # ABOUT THE AWARD An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in SchoolTM, 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. Sportscaster Dick Enberg, Honorary Chairman of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, first conceived the idea of an award for seniors in 2001 in response to the growing trend of men's basketball players leaving school early for the NBA. The award program has expanded the past two years to include a total of nine NCAA® Division I sports - football, men's and women's soccer, men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, baseball and softball in addition to men's and women's basketball. The award is sponsored by Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA®, and managed by Premier Sports Management. For more information, visit www.seniorCLASSaward.com.
Classroom: A two-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Honoree, Young currently holds a 3.14 gpa in Management and Marketing, with a concentration in Insurance. Young interned with Wells Fargo Financial in summer 2008 in their Global Marketing Division where he shadowed senior leaders, participated in discussions/improvement regarding global marketing and sales target models, and developed enhanced United Way participation strategies. Character: A second year captain going into the 2009-10 season, Young is seen as a leader in both word and deed. His peers and coaches alike recognize his influence on team chemistry, and appreciate his high standards in practice and competition. Young is also engaged with the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, serving as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference SAAC, and was a key speaker during Welcome Weekend orientation events for first year students this fall. Community: Young understands his visibility as a role model, and has been involved in the Bulldog Reading program, designed to stress the importance of reading at the elementary school level, since 2006. He has visited Des Moines Methodist Hospital, sharing compassion with both youth and elderly patients during their stays. Finally, he was part of a team of student-athletes who addressed youth regarding team unity as part of the Character Counts in Iowa program. Competition: He enters his senior season projected to become Drake's career leader in scoring and three-point baskets. In his first three years at Drake, Young led his team to a 62-36 overall record, including the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles in 2007-08 and Drake's first appearance in the NCAA Basketball Tournament since 1971. Throughout his career he has been named to Second Team (2008-09), First Team (2007-08), and All-Freshman Team and Newcomer Team (2006-07) Missouri Valley Conference honors. For his 2007-08 performance, he was selected to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District VI team, the CollegeHoops.net fourth Team High-Major All-American squad, and led the MVC in per game scoring average. He was only player in the Missouri Valley Conference to be named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District teams in 2008 and 2009. He was named to the preseason 2009-10 All-Missouri Valley Conference team by coaches and media
