OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – University of Denver senior Chris Udofia (Irving, Texas) was among 60 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes, who excel both on and off the court, and were tabbed Wednesday as candidates for the 2013-14 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate basketball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
“This is a great honor for me, and it represents a lot of hard work not just from me but from all of my teammates, too,” Udofia said. “Everyone on this team helps each other improve on the court, in the classroom and in everyday life.”
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
A Preseason All-Summit League First Team selection, Udofia was voted to the All-WAC First Team and WAC All-Defensive Team last season, while leading the Pioneers to a 22-10 overall record and a share of the WAC regular season title, finishing 16-2 in conference play. Udofia, who earned a spot on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 6 First Team, helped lead the Pioneers to their first-ever win in a national postseason tournament as a No. 3 seed in the NIT. Udofia ranked 34th in the nation and third in the WAC in blocked shots (2.34 per game), and ranked second in the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.81), fourth in steals (1.62), fifth in field goal percentage (.516), and ninth in both scoring (13.3) and assists (3.28 per game). Udofia’s 75 blocks were the fourth most in DU single-season history, and his 186 career blocks are second behind Yemi Nicholson’s all-time record of 210. Udofia was voted Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team as a sophomore.
Of the 60 candidates, 20 have grade point averages of 3.5 or higher. There are eight CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-Americans® and seven returning All-Americans. Twenty-four of the 32 NCAA Division I basketball-playing conferences are represented as well.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Men’s Final Four® and NCAA Women’s Final Four®.
Each of the 30 candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
Denver won 22 games for the second-straight season, and the Crimson and Gold ranked among the Top 25 in the NCAA in assists/turnover ratio (fifth), scoring defense (sixth), turnover margin (eighth), assists per game (ninth), field goal percentage (10th), steals per game (15th) and turnovers per game (25th). No other team in the nation ranked in the Top 25 in field goal percentage, assists and steals.
The Pioneers return 11 players, including starters Udofia, Brett Olson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Jalen Love (Wichita, Kan.), and key sixth man Cam Griffin (San Antonio, Texas) from last year’s roster. Senior captain Udofia was selected to the all-conference first team and all-conference defensive team each of the last two seasons. Starting junior guard and All-WAC Third Team selection Olson, who was second in the league in three-point shooting last year, joins sophomore guard Love who helped spark DU’s 19-4 finish after joining the starting lineup last December. Junior guard Griffin also returns after ranking seventh in the WAC last season with 1.5 steals per game, while adding 6.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
Individual game tickets for men's basketball go on sale Tuesday, Oct. 1 with prices starting at $9 for adults. Single-game tickets may be purchased in person at the Ritchie Center Box Office, by phone at 303-871-2336 or online at DenverPioneers.com/tickets. DU students are admitted to all Denver men's basketball games FREE with their Pioneer Card.
Group tickets are available for parties of 20 or more for a reduced price. Men's basketball lower bowl group tickets are $7. For more questions or to place a group ticket order, contact Adam Sizemore at adam.sizemore@du.edu or (303) 871-HOOP.
Season tickets for the 2013-14 Denver men’s basketball season are currently on sale with ticket packages start at just $77. For ticket information, please visit DenverPioneers.com or call the Pioneer Basketball Ticket Hotline at (303) 871-HOOP. DU continues its commitment to provide the community with the most affordable and exciting entertainment in the Denver metro area.
2013-14 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
Men's Basketball Candidates
Travis Bader, Oakland
Jerrelle Benimon, Towson
Kyle Boswell, UC Santa Barbara
Allan Chaney, High Point
Aaron Craft, Ohio State
Jordan Dykstra, South Dakota State
Melvin Ejim, Iowa State
Dwayne Evans, Saint Louis
Chris Eversley, Cal Poly
C.J. Fair, Syracuse
Tim Frazier, Penn State
Jakob Gollon, Mercer
Joe Harris, Virginia
Holton Hunsaker, Utah Valley
Anthony Ireland, Loyola Marymount
Joe Jackson, Memphis
Walt Lemon Jr., Bradley
J.J. Mann, Belmont
Doug McDermott, Creighton
Sean McGonagill, Brown
Travis McKie, Wake Forest
Jordan McRae, Tennessee
Shabazz Napier, Connecticut
Dennis Ogbe, Tennessee Tech
Kendrick Perry, Youngstown State
Dwight Powell, Stanford
Augustine Rubit, South Alabama
Russ Smith, Louisville
Chris Udofia, Denver
Patric Young, Florida
Women's Basketball Candidates
Gennifer Brandon, California
Heather Butler, Tennessee-Martin
Alyssa Charlston, Idaho
Hallie Christofferson, Iowa State
Jerica Coley, Florida International
Allyson DiMagno, Cornell
Alexis Dobbs, American
Stefanie Dolson, Connecticut
Jamierra Faulkner, Southern Mississippi
Ataira Franklin, Virginia
Chelsea Gray, Duke
Sarah Hansen, Florida Gulf Coast
Cassie Harberts, Southern California
Jordan Hooper, Nebraska
Natasha Howard, Florida State
Amanda Hyde, IPFW
Maggie Lucas, Penn State
Dequesha McClanahan, Winthrop
Sarah Nelson, Creighton
Eilise O’Connor, Missouri-Kansas City
Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford
Haley Peters, Duke
Theresa Plaisance, LSU
Michelle Plouffe, Utah
Odyssey Sims, Baylor
Alex Smith, Holy Cross
Kacie Sowell, Seattle
DeNesha Stallworth, Kentucky
Rachel Tecca, Akron
Alli Wiliams, Saint Francis
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