OVERLAND PARK, KAN. -- Drake senior guard Josh Young (Lawton, Okla.) is one of 10 men's  basketball student-athletes who were selected as finalists for the 2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in basketball. 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 School™, 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. The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 men's candidates who were announced in October.

Nationwide balloting begins immediately to determine the winner. Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award winners during the 2010 NCAA Men's and Women's Final Fours in early April.

Young, a three-year starter at Drake, is on the verge of becoming the school's career scoring leader, needing only 15 points to surpass Red Murrell who scored 1,657 points from 1955-58.

A two-time U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District VI selection, Young is averaging 13.7 points and 3.6 assists. He ranks second on the Drake career three-point basket list with 236 and is third in career free throws made with 409.

Young maintains a 3.15 grade-point average ,majoring in marketing and management. He has led Drake in scoring in the last six games, while averaging 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He scored 20 points in victories past Wichita State and Creighton in that stretch.

The other men's finalists are: Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga ; Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia; Marquis Hall, Lehigh; Luke Harangody, Notre Dame; Damion James, Texas; Adam Koch, Northern Iowa; Chris Kramer, ; Raymar Morgan, Michigan State and Jon Scheyer, Duke.

These 10 names will be placed on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award basketball ballot for a nationwide vote beginning today and concluding March 22.

Fan balloting will be available on the award's official Web site, http://www.seniorCLASSaward.com, as well as through text messaging. Fans can text MBBALL to 74567 to vote for men's finalists. These votes will be combined with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award.

“Like all student-athletes, basketball players have many demands on their time,” said Tom Lamb, Lowe's senior vice president of marketing. “These finalists have made it a priority to use some of their spare time to improve their communities through various service projects. Lowe's puts a premium on community service and values the contributions these young people make each day.”

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).