Oct. 31, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior guard A’dia Mathies has been selected as one of 30 national candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award in women’s basketball, it was announced Wednesday. Mathies was chosen for excelling on and off the court. 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.
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.
Mathies, a native of Louisville, Ky., is set to graduate in May with a degree in psychology with aspirations of becoming a clinical psychologist after basketball. Throughout her Wildcat career, she has been an active member in the community and a leader on the hardwood. She has volunteered at several community service events in her three years, including playing Bingo at Kentucky Children’s Hospital, volunteering at YMCA’s Fall Festival, participating in Cats Cultivating Character, where student-athletes teach character lessons once a month to third grade students at a local elementary school, volunteering to pack and deliver food for God’s Pantry BackPack program and volunteering to serve lunch at Lexington’s Hope Center. She also participated in Lexington’s Fire Prevention parade.
On the court, the 5-foot-9 guard is already regarded as one of the most decorated players in UK Hoops history. The preseason Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and first team All-SEC selection is coming off a banner junior season that saw her earn 2012 SEC Player of the Year honors after leading UK to the Elite Eight for the second time in her three seasons and capture the first SEC regular season championship in 30 years. She has already climbed to No. 6 on UK’s all-time steals list and No. 12 in scoring, and her numbers have steadily rose over her three seasons, culminating with a 15.0 scoring average last year. She also led UK in assists, steals and 3-point FG pct last season and was second on the team in rebounding and 3-point field goals made.
She was one of four players on the list from the SEC, joining Georgia’s Anne Marie Armstrong, Vanderbilt’s Tiffany Clarke and Florida’s Jennifer George.
The candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 men’s and 10 women’s finalists midway through the regular season, and those 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 men’s finalist and one women’s finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The women’s Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the NCAA Women’s Final Four® in New Orleans April 7 and 9.
