76 Wildcats Expected to Graduate This Week
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 2019-20 athletic season might have been cut short, but that hasn’t stopped Wildcat student-athletes from pursuing academic achievement during the spring semester. This week, 76 current and former student-athletes are on track to graduate from the University of Kentucky.
UK’s May Commencement ceremonies have been postponed per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that no large events be scheduled. Nonetheless, UK Athletics is proud to celebrate its anticipated graduates, of which 35 will graduate with honors. Adding the 21 who graduated in December, 97 Wildcats will have graduated this academic year alone.
Expected graduates include three members of the Kentucky volleyball team, which won its third straight Southeastern Conference championship in the fall; one member of the rifle team, which swept regular-season and conference tournament championships before its season was cut short; and nine members of the Belk Bowl champion football team. Seven of the expected graduates earned All-America honors during their UK careers and another 18 were All-Southeastern Conference performers.
Six Wildcats are also expected to graduate after returning following the conclusion of their playing days as part of the Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Program. Headlining the group is Wilbur Hackett, who was one of four Kentucky football trailblazers who broke the color barrier in the SEC before going on to become the first African-American captain in SEC history in 1969. Two-time men’s basketball national champion and 18-year NBA veteran Nazr Mohammed is also expected to graduate along with Jordan Jones (football), Kyle Barrett (baseball), JaVon Shelby (baseball) and David Cheatle (baseball) through the Post-Eligibility Program. JaVon Shelby’s brother, Jaren, is expected to graduate as a current member of the Kentucky baseball team.
Through the Post-Eligibility Program, UK Athletics pays for tuition and books for scholarship student-athletes who return to school after completing their eligibility. Since its inception in 1989, more than 160 Wildcats have returned to graduate through the program.
Below is the complete list of expected graduates:
Carson Coleman (Baseball)
T.J. Collett (Baseball)
Elliott Curtis (Baseball)
Breydon Daniel (Baseball)
Tanner Holen (Baseball)
Zeke Lewis (Baseball)
Brett Marshall (Baseball)
Jaren Shelby (Baseball)
Kyle Barrett (Baseball) Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Scholarship
JaVon Shelby (Baseball) Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Scholarship
David Cheatle (Baseball) Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Scholarship
T.J. Carter (Football)
John Daido (Football)
Phil Hoskins (Football)
Drew Schlegel (Football)
Clevan Thomas Jr. (Football)
Ahmad Wagner (Football)
Jamar Watson (Football)
Terry Wilson (Football)
Mason Wolfe (Football)
Walker Wood (Football)
Wilbur Hackett (Football) Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Scholarship
Jordan Jones (Football) Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Scholarship
Nazr Mohammed (Men’s Basketball) Cawood Ledford Post-Eligibility Scholarship
Jacob Cook (Men’s Golf)
Matt Liston (Men’s Golf)
Max Mehles (Men’s Golf)
Ian Foos (Rifle)
Jackson Hawthorne (Men’s Soccer)
Wyatt Amdor (Men’s Swimming & Diving)
Glen Brown (Men’s Swimming & Diving)
Jason Head (Men’s Swimming & Diving)
Alex Taylor (Men’s Swimming & Diving)
Peter Wetzlar (Men’s Swimming & Diving)
Parth Aggarwal (Men’s Tennis)
César Bourgois (Men’s Tennis)
Enzo Wallart (Men’s Tennis)
Cole Dowdy (Men’s Track & Field)
Tanner Dowdy (Men’s Track & Field)
Brennan Fields (Men’s Track & Field)
Matthew Thomas (Men’s Track & Field)
Benjamin Young (Men’s Track & Field)
Sabrina Haines (Women’s Basketball)
Paige Poffenberger (Women’s Basketball)
Jaida Roper (Women’s Basketball)
Zoe Collins (Women’s Golf)
Sarah Shipley (Women’s Golf)
Katherine Marianos (Gymnastics)
Hailey Poland (Gymnastics)
Alex Martens (Softball)
Larissa Spellman (Softball)
Bailey Vick (Softball)
Marissa Bosco (Women’s Soccer)
Gina Crosetti (Women’s Soccer)
Emma Dellmore (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Geena Freriks (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Ali Galyer (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Morgan Lakes (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Sarah Loheide (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Caroline McCleary (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Lizzy Merriman (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Alex Nelson (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Kathryn Painter (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Asia Seidt (Women’s Swimming & Diving)
Lesedi Jacobs (Women’s Tennis)
Chloe Abbott (Women’s Track & Field)
Celera Barnes (Women’s Track & Field)
Riley Caudill (Women’s Track & Field)
Ellen Ekholm (Women’s Track & Field)
Nicole Fautsch (Women’s Track & Field)
Faith Ross (Women’s Track & Field)
Caitlin Shepard (Women’s Track & Field)
Kamilah Williams (Women’s Track & Field)
Leah Edmond (Volleyball)
Leah Meyer (Volleyball)
Kylie Schmaltz (Volleyball)
Graduation marks yet another milestone of academic success for UK student-athletes. Guided by UK Athletics’ Student-Athlete Experience Division, Wildcat student-athletes have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of better than 3.0 in 15 consecutive semesters, with grades for the spring semester set to be finalized next week. In October, UK student-athletes broke one school record and tied another in the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate and Federal Graduation Rate.
