Withey Named Candidate for the 2012-13 Senior CLASS Award
Oct. 31, 2012
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Kansas center Jeff Withey has been selected as one of 30 men’s candidates for the 2012-13 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate basketball, award organizers announced Wednesday.
Sixty NCAA men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as candidates. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates is below. KU’s Angel Goodrich is on the 30 women’s candidates.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the 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.
On schedule to graduate with a degree in American studies, Withey is a preseason Associated Press All-America honorable mention selection who is coming off a sensational junior season where he set the Kansas and Big 12 single-season blocked shots record with 140. Included was an NCAA Tournament record 31 blocked shots for the 2012 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Withey, from San Diego, Calif., participates in many community functions including KU’s READ program, which encourages youth to read. He takes time to sign autographs following every home contest to the approximately 70-100 fans outside KU’s locker and participates in KU’s annual Wilt Chamberlain Special Olympic Clinic in late January. He and his teammates autograph approximately 1,500 basketball every year with proceeds from the sales going to local charities. Withey also participates Kansas men’s basketball annual shopping for needy families during the holiday season and has also visited elementary schools in Lawrence promoting good health.
Historically, Kansas has been well represented in the Senior CLASS Award. In 2005, Jayhawk Wayne Simien won the award which began in 2001. Other Kansas players named to the Senior CLASS Award First Team, which consists of five players, include Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich in 2003 and Tyrel Reed in 2011.
The men’s Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA Final Four in Atlanta April 6 and 8, while the women’s winner will be announced during the NCAA Women’s Final Four® in New Orleans April 7 and 9.
The candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 men’s and 10 women’s finalists midway through the regular season, and those 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 men’s finalist and one women’s finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
Men’s Candidates
God’sgift Achiuwa, St. John’s (N.Y.)
O.D. Anosike, Siena
Ben Averkamp, Loyola (Chicago)
Brian Barbour, Columbia
Jared Berggren, Wisconsin
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Drew Crawford, Northwestern
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary’s
Tim Frazier, Penn State
Mike Groselle, The Citadel
C.J. Harris, Wake Forest
Jordan Hulls, Indiana
Gabe Knutson, Lehigh
JP Kuhlman, Davidson
Andrew Lawrence, Charleston
Jonathan Lee, Northeastern
Scott Martin, Notre Dame
C.J. McCollum, Lehigh
Brock Motum, Washington State
Mike Muscala, Bucknell
Robert Olson, Loyola (Maryland)
Brandon Paul, Illinois
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Colt Ryan, Evansville
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Andrew Smith, Butler
Michael Snaer, Florida State
Marc Trasolini, Santa Clara
Jeff Withey, KANSAS
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State
Women’s Candidates
Kayla Alexander, Syracuse
Anne Marie Armstrong, Georgia
Alex Bentley, Penn State
Brittany Chambers, Kansas State
Layshia Clarendon, California
Tiffany Clarke, Vanderbilt
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame
Caroline Durbin, New Mexico
Shante Evans, Hofstra
Jennifer George, Florida
Angel Goodrich, KANSAS
Lily Grenci, Siena
Brittney Griner, Baylor
Whitney Hand, Oklahoma
Tayler Hill, Ohio State
Jacqui Kalin, Northern Iowa
Marissa Kastanek, North Carolina State
Kevi Luper, Oral Roberts
Anna Martin, DePaul
A’dia Mathies, Kentucky
Victoria McGowan, Stetson
Drey Mingo, Purdue
Ta’Kenya Nixon, Eastern Illinois
Kaela Oakes, Idaho State
Chelsea Poppens, Iowa State
Jaime Printy, Iowa
Sugar Rodgers, Georgetown
Rachel Semansky, Montana State
Naama Shafir, Toledo
ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, 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 a senior season can bring. Premier Sports Management manages the award.
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 NCAA.org and NCAA.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.
NCAA and its marks are licensed by or trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
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