Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Holds 15th Annual Academic Awards Banquet
April 16, 2008 | General
In 2007, 113 student-athletes earned Academic All-Big 12 honors, ranking as the highest count in the Big 12. The total shattered the school's previous best of 101 set in 2006.
OSU also had a league-leading 39 Academic All-Americans/Scholar-Athletes, which set a new school mark as well.
All told, OSU had six teams lead the conference in Academic All-Big 12 picks with four additional teams finishing second.
The women's tennis, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track, wrestling, women's soccer and softball squads were all honored with various team academic achievement awards as well.
Individually, 18 student-athletes were recognized for maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
OSU also recognized its latest crop of Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar Award winners as several student-athletes were honored, bringing the school's conference-leading total of recipients over the past two years to 33.
Women's basketball player Shaunte' Smith and football's Michael Booker were honored as the 2008 Nate Fleming Academic Effort and Improvement Scholarship winners. The honor is presented each year to a male and female student-athlete who have overcome personal struggles in their lives to excel in their sport, in the classroom and in life.
Women's soccer player Niccole Grimaldi brought in an impressive haul during the evening, earning the OSU Alumni Association's Outstanding Senior Award and the Big 12/Chil Fil-A Award for her community service, GPA and sportsmanship. In addition, she received the NCAA Postgraduate Award, was named to the Big 12 Good Works Team and was tabbed as the school's Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
Wrestler Nathan Morgan was tabbed as the Male Student-Athlete of the Year.
Martel Van Zant, a member of the Cowboy football team, received the Giant Steps Award during the event. A national award that honors courageous student-athletes who has used sports as a vehicle for positive social change, to bring awareness to social issues and have shown a balance between academics and sports.
Following is a summary of the awards presented at the banquet.
Nate Fleming Award
Shaunte' Smith, Michael Booker
Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar Award
16 recipients
OSU Alumni Association Outstanding Senior Award
Niccole Grimaldi, B.J. O'Connor
NCAA Student-Athlete Development Conference
Erin Prutow, Russell Okung, Kristin Hernandez, Nick Sidorakis
NCAS Scholar-Baller National Academic Momentum Award
DeMarcus Conner
Big 12/Chick Fil-A Award
Niccole Grimaldi
NCAA Postgraduate Award
Niccole Grimaldi, David Jankowski
Big 12 Conference Postgraduate Award
Darnell Smith, Lauren Simmons
Mrs. Baird's Postgraduate Award
Niccole Grimaldi
John McLendon Minority Postgraduate Scholarship
Darnell Smith
Big 12 Good Works Team
Niccole Grimaldi, Danielle Green, Deleanor Kirkpatrick
Big 12 Community Service Award
Deleanor Kirkpatrick, Alejandro Ruiz
OSU/Big 12 Student Athletes of the Year
Danielle Green, Dantrell Savage
Giant Steps Award
Martel Van Zant
OSU Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year
Niccole Grimaldi, Nathan Morgan
—Awards wee also given for Academic All-America selections, Team Academic Awards and for those maintaining a 4.0 GPA
Friday, June 05
Friday, May 29
Wednesday, May 27
Monday, May 18
