Oklahoma State University Athletics
Matt Wilson is one of five Cowboy Baseball student-athletes graduating this weekend.
Cowboy Baseball In The Classroom
May 10, 2017 | Cowboy Baseball
STILLWATER – It's finals week at Oklahoma State University and with the focus on academics, OSU head coach Josh Holliday is celebrating the accomplishments of Cowboy Baseball in the classroom.
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Holliday places a heavy emphasis on academics, and that commitment can be seen in the Cowboys' academic accolades over the last four-plus years.
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"I'm really proud of our players for their performance in the classroom," Holliday said. "As a coaching staff, we're thrilled to see a large number of guys graduating, the guys year-in and year-out excelling. We're also very proud of the types of degrees guys are pursuing and their vision for what they want to do with life after baseball. We want our guys to pursue a professional baseball career until the very end and then change gears and pursue a successful life, and we're seeing that happen.
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"We really appreciate the effort of the players to excel in all areas and can't say enough about the academic support team — Dr. (Marilyn) Middlebrook, Alan Good, Jonene Cook and all the facilitators and people that work with these kids on a daily basis.
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"It's of great importance to us. It's what this experience is founded on. And I'm just very proud of the kids for the buy in of being very good student-athletes."
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From 2012-2016, Oklahoma State baseball had 44 graduates, a record number for the program for any four-year period in its history. This weekend, five Cowboys — four of them on the current active roster — will graduate: Blake Battenfield (sports management degree), Tyler Buffett (management and marketing degrees), Matt Wilson (finance and accounting degrees), Dustin Williams (university studies) and Alex Hackerott (finance).
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Among other impressive accomplishments by the Cowboys in the classroom:
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Holliday places a heavy emphasis on academics, and that commitment can be seen in the Cowboys' academic accolades over the last four-plus years.
Â
"I'm really proud of our players for their performance in the classroom," Holliday said. "As a coaching staff, we're thrilled to see a large number of guys graduating, the guys year-in and year-out excelling. We're also very proud of the types of degrees guys are pursuing and their vision for what they want to do with life after baseball. We want our guys to pursue a professional baseball career until the very end and then change gears and pursue a successful life, and we're seeing that happen.
Â
"We really appreciate the effort of the players to excel in all areas and can't say enough about the academic support team — Dr. (Marilyn) Middlebrook, Alan Good, Jonene Cook and all the facilitators and people that work with these kids on a daily basis.
Â
"It's of great importance to us. It's what this experience is founded on. And I'm just very proud of the kids for the buy in of being very good student-athletes."
Â
From 2012-2016, Oklahoma State baseball had 44 graduates, a record number for the program for any four-year period in its history. This weekend, five Cowboys — four of them on the current active roster — will graduate: Blake Battenfield (sports management degree), Tyler Buffett (management and marketing degrees), Matt Wilson (finance and accounting degrees), Dustin Williams (university studies) and Alex Hackerott (finance).
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Among other impressive accomplishments by the Cowboys in the classroom:
- OSU set a program record with 15 Academic All-Big 12 selections in 2016, with nine of those on the first team (also a record). This year's club is expected to put up similar numbers when those teams are released by the conference later this month.
- Under Holliday, 110 baseball student-athletes have earned recognition on the OSU President's Honor Roll (4.00 GPA) or OSU Dean's List (3.5-3.99 GPA), and 233 student-athletes have earned a 3.0 GPA or higher.
- In the fall of 2016, the Cowboys had 38 players earn a 3.0 GPA or higher, and the program set a record with a 3.288 team GPA.
- Also in the fall of 2016, 17 Cowboys made either the OSU President's or Dean's Honor Rolls.
- OSU pitcher Jon Perrin won the prestigious Prentice Gautt/Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship in 2015, a $10,000 award.
- Matt Wilson became OSU's first-ever baseball winner of the Big 12/Dr. Gerald Lage Award in 2016.
- OSU pitcher Michael Freeman was named the 2015 OSU Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
- Tyler Buffett (2017) and Gage Green (2015) were each one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.
Players Mentioned
RHP
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RHP
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LHP
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1B
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LHP
/ Cowboy BaseballFriday, June 05
Friday, May 29
Wednesday, May 27
Monday, May 18
