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Nominee
achievements
Three nominees for this year's
Senior CLASS Award are currently leading the Big 12 Conference in
the three major categories: scoring, rebounding and assists.
Oklahoma State's Joey Graham is the conference's leading scorer at
18.5 per game; Wayne Simien of Kansas is the top rebounder at 10.6
per game; and KU's Aaron Miles is the leader in assists with 7.2 per
game.
One nominee for the women's senior
award is reaching her goals at Texas Christian University. Sandora
Irvin began her career at TCU with three things in mind: to help get
the program some recognition, play a challenging schedule and earn
national respect, according to ESPN.com. This season Irvin has met
those goals by being regarded as one of the best shot-blockers of
all time in the women's NCAA ("TCU's
Irvin sets NCAA career mark for blocked shots"). Irvin has also
set a school record by attaining the first triple-double in the
history of TCU. As the season comes to a close Irvin sets her sights
for the WNBA.
Where are
they now?
Alana
Beard, female Senior CLASS Award recipient, 2003-2004
Alana Beard was the female winner of
the Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award in 2004. She graduated from
Duke with a bachelor's degree in sociology and has continued her
basketball career with the Washington Mystics.
Her first season with the Mystics
proved to be an outstanding one. Her 13.1 points per game were
second among the WNBA's rookies, and she was the runner-up for the
2004 WNBA rookie of the Year Award.
The NBA asked the WNBA to send
several representatives for the NBA China games, and Beard was one
of the players the NBA asked to participate. She spent time touring
historical sights such as the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden
City in Beijing.
Beard continues to work in the
offseason toward her dream of playing in the 2008 Olympic Games.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
 Online
voting begins March 1
On March 1, the Bayer Advantage
Senior CLASS Award website,
www.seniorclassaward.com,
will open the polls to millions of college basketball fans around
the world.
Be sure
to go online and vote for your favorite player. The national award
winners are selected by the following vote proportions:
- National media, 40 percent
- National coaches, 40 percent
- National fan vote, 20 percent
So get online and vote!
Mark your
calendar
- March 1 -- Finalists announced
and national fan voting begins at
www.seniorclassaward.com
- April 2 -- Award winners
announced on CBS during the Final Four
- April 30 -- Tribute gala in
Kansas City, Mo.
[Provided by Kent Brown, assistant
athletics director,
sports information director,
University of Illinois]
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