Nov. 5, 2009

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State's Jared Quayle has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete of the Year, it was announced Wednesday.

It is the third year in a row that a Utah State player has been named one of 30 national candidates for this award as Jaycee Carroll was selected as one of 10 finalists in 2008 and Gary Wilkinson was one of 30 candidates in 2009.

Quayle, a 6-1 senior guard from Perry, Utah is the only player from the state of Utah and the only player from the Western Athletic Conference to be selected for this award.

Entering the 2009-10 season, Quayle was voted to the WAC's preseason first-team by both the media and coaches after earning second-team all-WAC honors last year. As a junior, Quayle averaged 13.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, while shooting 46.5 percent from the field, 38.8 percent from three-point range and 76.4 percent from the free throw line. He finished the year ranking third in the WAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.05), sixth in steals (1.43), sixth in assists, seventh in free throw shooting, 11th in scoring and 12th in rebounding.

Quayle was also named to the WAC's all-tournament team in 2009 and received high-major honorable mention All-American honors from CollegeHoops.net.

The Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the 'Four C's' of classroom, character, community and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings. Now in its ninth year for basketball, the award has developed into the nation's premier tribute for college seniors. Since originating with basketball, Lowe's has expanded the award to include a total of eight NCAA sports.

"Lowe's is proud to be associated with the nominees for the Senior CLASS Award in men's and women's basketball," said Tom Lamb, Lowe's senior vice president of marketing. "Each of the student-athletes has shown tremendous commitment to their studies during their college careers. They have also demonstrated great character and a passion for community service."

The list of 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, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition.

The award was conceived by sportscaster Dick Enberg, who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman. It was inspired by the remarkable story of former Duke University basketball player Shane Battier, who could have been an NBA lottery pick but returned to college for his senior season and led the Blue Devils to the National Championship in 2001.

Previous winners of the men's award include Juan Dixon of Maryland (2002), David West of Xavier (2003), Jameer Nelson of St. Joseph's (2004), Wayne Simien of Kansas (2005), J.J. Reddick of Duke (2006), Alando Tucker of Wisconsin (2007), Shan Foster of Vanderbilt (2008) and Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina (2009).

For more information, visit www.seniorCLASSaward.com.

-USU-

2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Men's Candidates

Name                                Position             School
Matt Bouldin                        Guard                Gonzaga University
Da'Sean Butler                      Forward              West Virginia University
Devan Downey                        Guard                University of South Carolina
Dodie Dunson                        Guard                Bradley University
Jason Duty                          Guard                Duquesne University
Patrick Foley                       Guard                Columbia University
Marcus Ginyard                      Guard                University of North Carolina
Marquis Hall                        Guard                Lehigh University
Luke Harangody                      Forward              University of Notre Dame
Damion Jones                        Forward              University of Texas
Adam Koch                           Forward              University of Northern Iowa
David Kool                          Guard                Western Michigan University
Chris Kramer                        Guard                Purdue University
Roman Martinez                      Forward              University of New Mexico
Michael McConathy                   Guard                Northwestern St. University
Yves Mekongo                        Forward              La Salle University
Raymar Morgan                       Forward              Michigan State University
Matthew Mullery                     Forward              Brown University
Hamady Ndiaye                       Center               Rutgers University
Dexter Pittman                      Center               University of Texas
Jared Quayle                        Guard                Utah State University
Jerome Randle                       Guard                University of California
Scottie Reynolds                    Guard                Villanova University
Nate Rohnert                        Guard/Forward        University of Denver
Jon Scheyer                         Guard                Duke University
DeShawn Sims                        Forward              University of Michigan
Tyler Smith                         Guard/Forward        University of Tennessee
J.T. Tiller                         Guard                University of Missouri
Ben Uzoh                            Guard                University of Tulsa
Josh Young                          Guard                Drake University