Nathan Howell named Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year
In Morgantown, W.Va. there is a little more to celebrate these days. The WVU campus now can add another Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year to its list of accomplishments this year. It doesn’t come from a program that most would hear a lot about. This young gifted student-athlete comes from the swimming and diving program.
Junior Nathan Howells was named the the 2015-16 Scholar-Athlete of the year back in April, and it’s a huge honor not just for Howells, but for the program itself.
Howells is a biochemistry major and been able to balance his commitment to be a Division 1 athlete and a student at the same time. He has maintained a 3.90 GPA for the three years that he has been at WVU.
“It’s an honor for our program and Nathan,” said WVU coach Vic Riggs. “This is the men’s team’s third Scholar-Athlete of the Year award since joining the Big 12 Conference, and we’re very proud of that. It’s a great tradition for our program to strive for each year.”
“It’s an honor for our program and Nathan, This is the men’s team’s third Scholar-Athlete of the Year award since joining the Big 12 Conference, and we’re very proud of that. It’s a great tradition for our program to strive for each year.”
Howells is no stranger to receiving awards such as this one here. He is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree, sporting a perfect 4.0 GPA in 2014 with the Big 12 Academic All-Rookie team, and then repeating that mark in 2015.
Though this is a big honor for Nathan Howells, but this isn’t the first time Men’s Swimming and Diving team has earned a Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. Howells is the third honoree to given this award, and he has some good company to go along with this award.
You don’t even have to go back that far to find the recipients of this award. Back in 2012-13 Liam McLaughlin earned the honor and in 2014-15 there were two members of the Mountaineers Swimming and Diving Team to earn the Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. David Palley and Haily VandePoel were recognized for not only being great athletes, but also great students.
This award was started by the Big 12 back in 2012-13. Each school selects and student athlete to nominate in one of the sponsored sports. Once they have a nominee for they are then voted on by the leagues head coaches, the one catch is that the head coaches are not allowed to vote for their own student-athlete.
This makes this award that much more creditable and a huge honor, that all the coach’s of the Big 12 Conference think that you are the best at being a student-athlete of the whole year in your sport.
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They do have Academic qualifiers as well. The nominee must be a Junior or Senior in their sport, and the must also have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher. On the athletic side of things, the nominee must participate in at least 60 percent of the team’s scheduled events, and be at the institution for a minimum of one year.