Hinnant Among Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Nominees
December 20, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2008
Complete List of Nominees in PDF Format 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. --- East Carolina guard Sam Hinnant has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2008-09 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for men's basketball, presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports. Based on criteria focusing on the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition, the award winners will be selected by national balloting of head basketball coaches, national media and college basketball fans.
Lowe's, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, will present the winners with trophies during the weekends of the respective NCAA Men's and Women's Final Four.
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.
Hinnant has is less then 200 points away from 1,000 career points and ranks among the school's all-time leaders in 3-point field goals made and attempted. As a student, Hinnant has been named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and needs just nine hours to graduate this spring with a degree in business management. He has also been involved in a variety of community service projects including Saturday morning's Holiday Hoops Clinic at minges Coliseum.
The list of 2008-09 basketball candidates (complete roster attached) includes a range of universities and conferences across the country. Male award candidates represent 27 different schools, including Memphis, North Carolina and Texas who each have two candidates. Players from 14 different conferences are among the men's nominees. The Big 12 Conference leads the way with five candidates.
"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 Final Four."
A national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in February 2009. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote. In addition to voting by Division I head basketball coaches and national media, college basketball fans will also be able to submit ballots by text voting or on-line at www.seniorclassaward.com.
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 Lowe's 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), Alando Tucker of Wisconsin (2007) and Shan Foster of Vanderbilt (2008).
