Nov. 4, 2009
Senior CLASS Award Candidates
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle senior Yves Mekongo is one of 30 players nationally to be named a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, it was announced today. 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 - classroom, character, community and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in SchoolTM, the Lowe's 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.
Mekongo averaged 10.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for the Explorers last season. He was named a Second Team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and also received Academic All-American honors from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). The senior integrated science business and technology major carries a 3.80 grade point average. He shot a team-best .770 from the foul line and needs 250 points to join the 1,000-point club at La Salle.
The Elizabeth, NJ native is one of two players in the Atlantic 10 to be named a candidate, joining Duquesne's Jason Duty. Villanova's Scottie Reynolds is the only other Philadelphia Big 5 player.
This year's candidate class includes 25 players on the preseason watch lists for the men's and women's John R. Wooden Award, eight men's players who are candidates for the AT&T Naismith Trophy and three men's and women's players who finished their junior seasons as all-Americans. There are four players recognized last year as ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans.
The two lists of 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists each 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 finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition.
This marks the ninth year for the basketball division of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Previous winners of the men's basketball award include Juan Dixon of Maryland (2002), David West of Xavier (2003), Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph's (2004), Wayne Simien of Kansas (2005), J.J. Redick of Duke (2006), Alando Tucker of Wisconsin (2007), Shan Foster of Vanderbilt (2008) and Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina (2009).
