BATON ROUGE — Seven present and past members of the LSU Fighting Tigers football team are part of a group of 24 LSU student-athletes who received their degrees Friday in the school Fall commencement exercises.
Present members include punter Donnie Jones who graduated with a degree in finance and quarterback Matt Mauck who received his degree in kinesiology. Jones, a four-year starter for the Tigers, holds the LSU record for punts and punting yards in a career. Mauck, a Second Team All-Southeastern Conference pick as well as being a Second Team Academic All-America in 2003, has a 17-2 mark as LSU’s starting quarterback. He’s thrown for a school record 28 touchdown passes this year in leading the 12-1 Tigers to the national championship game against Oklahoma.
Other former football players completing their degree programs and walking on stages around the campus on Friday were Byron Dawson (general studies), Thomas Dunson (kinesiology), Rob Sale (kinesiology), John Corbello (construction management) and Michael Dupuis (mechanical engineering).
Track All-American Traun Smith received his degree in construction management while soccer star Kara Dean’s degree was in communications studies. Highly regarded LSU baseball pitcher Jake Tompkins also earned his degree in kinesiology.
Basketball player Brian Green graduated in biological sciences and received his degree Magna Cum Laude and Erin Sarver of the women’s golf team received her Master’s Degree in kinesiology.
Here is the complete list of LSU student-athletes who graduated on Friday:
ARTS AND SCIENCES
Byron Dawson (Football), General Studies; Kara Dean (Soccer), Communication Studies; Shawn French (Baseball), General Studies; Matt Heath (Baseball), General Studies; Kellee Monet Rice (Track and Field), History; Jill Thomas (Swimming and Diving), Philosophy.
BASIC SCIENCES
Brian Green (Magna Cum Laude) (Basketball), Biological Sciences; Chili Kay (Track and Field), Biological Sciences
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Donnie Jones (Football), Finance; John Sruk (Tennis), Accounting; Kyle VanArsdall (Swimming and Diving), Marketing.
EDUCATION
Thomas Dunson (Football), Kinesiology; Julie Johnson (Swimming and Diving), Elementary Education; Matt Mauck (Football), Kinesiology; Rob Sale (Football), Kinesiology; Melissa Shelton (Soccer), Kinesiology; Jake Tompkins (Baseball), Kinesiology
ENGINEERING
John Corbello (Football), Construction Management; Michael Dupuis (Football), Mechanical Engineering; Justin Sevier (Golf), Construction Management; Traun Smith (Track and Field), Construction Management
MASS COMMUNICATIONS
Brooke Cazeaux (Gymnastics), Mass Communications; Jesse Smatt (Tennis); Mass Communications
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Erin Sarver (Women’s Golf), Kinesiology