Azubuike Named a Senior CLASS Award Candidate
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Kansas center Udoka Azubuike has been named one of 30 men’s basketball candidates for the 2019-20 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: community, classroom, character and competition.
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.
Among the 60 candidates, 30 men and 30 women, all are in excellent academic standing. Each of the candidates also volunteers his or her time with charitable organizations and causes while upholding a reputation for positive character on campus and in the community. Here is a link to Azubuike’s support page for the 2019-20 Senior Class Award.
From Delta, Nigeria, Azubuike is a liberal arts and sciences major who will graduate from Kansas in May 2020. He is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection, earning second-team honors during his sophomore year and boosting that to first-team recognition last season.
Historically, Kansas’ Wayne Simien was the 2005 Senior CLASS Award recipient. Kansas Senior CLASS Award All-Americans include Frank Mason III (2017), Perry Ellis (2016, second team), Tyrel Reed (2011), Nick Collison (2003) and Kirk Hinrich (2003). The award started in 2001 and its All-American teams began in 2003.
The men’s and women’s candidates will be narrowed to two fields of 10 finalists in February, 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 male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C’s of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2020 NCAA Men’s Final Four® and NCAA Women’s Final Four® this spring. For more information on each of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
