University of Tennessee Athletics
Lofton Candidate for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
December 06, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Kansas City, Mo. ??? The nation???s top 30 senior male and female college basketball players who exemplify a total student-athlete were announced today as the official candidates for the 2007-08 Lowe???s Senior CLASS Award.
The award ??? presented annually to the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete of the Year in eight sports ??? focuses on the ???Four C???s??? of classroom, character, community and competition. Lowe???s, an official corporate partner of the NCAA will award the winners with trophies during the respective men???s and women???s NCAA Final Four weekends.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings.
Now in its seventh year for basketball, the award has developed into the nation???s premier tribute for college seniors. Since originating with basketball, Lowe???s has expanded the award to include a total of eight NCAA sports.
The list of basketball candidates includes a broad spectrum of universities and conferences across the country. On the men???s side, 29 different schools are represented with Georgetown University being the only team with two candidates. Players from 17 different conferences are among the male nominees. The Big East Conference leads the way with five candidates.
On the women???s side, 29 schools are represented with the University of Kentucky boasting the only tandem set of candidates. While 16 conferences are included among the list of nominees, the Southeastern Conference landed five female candidates followed closely by the Missouri Valley Conference with four.
Schools that placed both a male and female student-athlete on the roster of candidates include the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, the United States Military Academy and Ball State University.
???At Lowe???s, we take pride in acknowledging hard work and outstanding accomplishments both on and off the court,??? said Bob Gfeller, Lowe???s senior vice president of marketing and advertising. ???That commitment extends beyond our employees and customers and into the communities we serve where these student athletes become real-life mentors. We???re thrilled to honor each candidate???s contributions and look forward to recognizing the award recipients at the men???s and women???s Final Four.???
From the list of 30 nominees for each gender, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe???s Senior CLASS Award in January 2008. Those ten names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote during the NCAA Tournament in March. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the male and female recipients.
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 University basketball player Shane Battier, who could have been an NBA lottery pick but returned to college for his senior season and led the Blue Devils to the National Championship in 2001.
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), J.J. Reddick of Duke (2006) and Alando Tucker of Wisconsin (2007). Recipients of the women???s award include Sue Bird of Connecticut (2002), LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State (2003), Alana Beard of Duke (2004), Kendra Wecker of Kansas State (2005), Seimone Augustus of LSU (2006) and Alison Bales of Duke (2007).
ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe???s Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student athletes in four areas: classroom, community, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards that a senior season can bring. For more information, visit www.seniorclassaward.com.
ABOUT LOWE???S
With fiscal year 2006 sales of $46.9 billion, Lowe???s Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE?? 50 company that serves approximately 13 mil lion customers a week at more than 1,425 home improvement stores in 49 states. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe???s is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit www.Lowes.com.
NCAA and the Final Four are licensed by or trademarks of National Collegiate Athletic Association.
| Lowe???s Senior CLASS Award 2007-08 Men???s Candidates | |||||
| Name | Height | Class | Pos. | School | Conference |
| Keiron Achara | 6'10' | Sr. | F/C | Duquesne | Atlantic 10 |
| Jarell Brown | 6'2" | Sr. | G | United States Military Academy | Patriot |
| Brian Butch | 6'11" | Sr. | F/C | Wisconsin | Big 10 |
| Jaycee Carroll | 6'2" | Sr. | G | Utah State | WAC |
| Will Daniels | 6'8" | Sr. | F | Rhode Island | Atlantic 10 |
| Randal Falker | 6'7" | Sr. | F | Southern Illinois | Missouri Valley |
| Shan Foster | 6'6" | Sr. | G/F | Vanderbilt | SEC |
| Kentrell Gransberry | 6'9" | Sr. | C | South Florida | Big East |
| A.J. Graves | 6'1" | Sr. | G | Butler | Horizon |
| Cliff Hammonds | 6'3" | Sr. | G | Clemson | ACC |
| Justin Hare | 6'2" | Sr. | G | Belmont | Atlantic Sun |
| Mitch Henke | 6'7" | Sr. | F | Santa Clara | WCC |
| Roy Hibbert | 7'2" | Sr. | F | Georgetown | Big East |
| Joseph Jones | 6'9" | Sr. | F/C | Texas A&M | Big 12 |
| Sasha Kaun | 6'11" | Sr. | C | Kansas | Big 12 |
| Eugene Lawrence | 6'1" | Sr. | G | St. John???s | Big East |
| Jack Leasure | 6'3" | Sr. | G | Coastal Carolina | Big South |
| Chris Lofton | 6'2" | Sr. | G | Tennessee | SEC |
| Drew Neitzel | 6'0" | Sr. | G | Michigan State | Big 10 |
| Matt Nelson | 6'9" | Sr. | F | Boise State | WAC |
| DeMarcus Nelson | 6'4" | Sr. | G | Duke | ACC |
| David Padgett | 6'11" | Sr. | F/C | Louisville | Big East |
| Brian Roberts | 6'2" | Sr. | G | Dayton | Atlantic 10 |
| Ty Rogers | 6'3" | Sr. | G | Western Kentucky | Sun Belt |
| Drew Shubik | 6'4" | Sr. | G | Sacred Heart | NEC |
| Sean Singletary | 6'0" | Sr. | G | Virginia | ACC |
| Peyton Stovall | 6'1" | Sr. | G | Ball State | Mid-American |
| Jonathan Wallace | 6'1" | Sr. | G | Georgetown | Big East |
| Dane Watts | 6'8" | Sr. | F | Creighton | Missouri Valley |
| Kyle Weaver | 6'6" | Sr. | G | Washington State | Pac 10 |
