KANSAS CITY, Mo. ? Nevada senior Nick Fazekas has been named one of 10 male finalists for the 2006-07 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and will appear on the national ballot for the nation’s premier tribute to college seniors. The award is presented annually to an NCAA Division I male and female senior basketball player who excel both on and off the court.
Finalists were selected from a list of 30 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student athlete. While the on-court performance thus far during the college basketball season was a factor in determining the finalists, the off-court areas of focus for the award include classroom, character and community.
The male finalists are: Jared Dudley of Boston College, Nick Fazekas of Nevada, Aaron Gray of Pittsburgh, Adam Haluska of Iowa, Jarrius Jackson of Texas Tech, Acie Law IV of Texas A&M, J.R. Reynolds of Virginia, Curtis Sumpter of Villanova, Anthony Tolliver of Creighton and Alando Tucker of Wisconsin.
The female finalists are: Alison Bales of Duke, Amanda Brown of Penn State, Jessica Davenport of Ohio State, Dee Davis of Vanderbilt, Shay Doron of Maryland, Katie Gearlds of Purdue, Lindsey Harding of Duke, Kate Hobbs of the United States Naval Academy, Ivory Latta of North Carolina and Shay Murphy of Southern California.
The finalists will be placed on the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award ballot for a nationwide vote during the NCAA Championships in March. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the male and female recipients. Winners will be announced during the men’s and women’s respective Final Four weekends.
“These finalists are outstanding student athletes who have worked hard to achieve great things both on and off the court,” said Bob Gfeller, Lowe’s senior vice president of marketing and advertising. “Lowe’s is proud of its affiliation with the NCAA and college athletics, and we are pleased to help honor these young individuals who have displayed a commitment to total-life excellence.”
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season in response to the trend of college basketball players leaving college early to turn professional. Lowe’s has extended the award in 2007 to include four other NCAA sports: baseball, softball, men’s hockey and men’s lacrosse. Those winners will be decided in separate balloting.
The award was conceived by sportscaster Dick Enberg, who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman. It was inspired by the remarkable story of former Duke star Shane Battier, who could have been an NBA lottery pick but returned to college for his senior season, led the Blue Devils to the national championship in 2001 and earned his college degree.
Previous winners of the men’s award include Juan Dixon of Maryland (2002), David West of Xavier (2003), Jameer Nelson of St. Joseph’s (2004), Wayne Simien of Kansas (2005) and J.J. Redick of Duke (2006).