OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — LSU senior shortstop Austin Nola is one of 30 candidates announced Thursday for the 2012 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a baseball 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 Lowe’s 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.
Nola, a product of Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, has a 3.2 GPA as a sports administration major and was named to the 2011 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll. He was also voted to the 2011 SEC Community Service Team as the leader of LSU baseball squad’s philanthropic efforts.
Nola, a 2010 All-SEC selection and the MVP of the 2010 SEC Tournament, is a four-year starter for the Tigers and was instrumental in LSU’s drive to the 2009 College World Series title. He is hitting .333 through LSU’s first four games this season with a team-best six RBI.
The 2012 candidate class includes six CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-Americans from last season and 10 student-athletes with cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or higher. Three candidates were National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association first-team All-Americans in 2011, eight candidates are on teams ranked in the USA Today/ESPN preseason top 25 coaches pool, and three participated in last year’s NCAA College World Series®.
Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award® winner during the 2012 NCAA College World Series, which will be held June 15-26 in Omaha.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, Division I head coaches and fans who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.