McClinton Named a Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Candidate

Dec. 22, 2008

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Senior guard Jack McClinton of the University of Miami men’s basketball team has been selected as a candidate for the 2008-09 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

McClinton is among 30 senior men’s basketball players from around the nation – and four from the ACC – chosen as a candidate for the award, which is presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports. Based on criteria focusing on classroom, character, community and competition, the award winner will be selected by national balloting of head basketball coaches, national media and college basketball fans.

A national media committee will select 10 finalists from the initial list of 30 in February 2009. Those 10 finalists will be placed on the official ballot for nationwide vote, with the winner being announced during the weekend of the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

McClinton, who has also been named a Wooden Award and Bob Cousy Award candidate this season, is the first Hurricane men’s basketball player named as a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. He leads the Hurricanes in scoring for the third-straight season with 17.0 points per game – including a team-high 2.7 assists and 2.3 three-pointers an outing. Miami’s first All-ACC First Team selection in 2007-08, he was also the only First Team pick named to the All-ACC Academic Team.

Conceived by sportscaster Dick Enberg, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award was created in 2001-02 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. Previous winners of the men’s basketball award include Juan Dixon (Maryland, 2002), David West (Xavier, 2003), Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph’s, 2004), Wayne Simien (Kansas, 2005), J.J. Reddick (Duke, 2006), Alando Tucker (Wisconsin, 2007) and Shan Foster (Vanderbilt, 2008).

2008-09 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award Candidates (Men’s Basketball)
A.J. Abrams                          Texas
Jonathan Adams                 Old Dominion
Antonio Anderson                Memphis
Connor Atchley                     Texas
Jimmy Baron                        Rhode Island
Dane Brumagin                   Missouri-Kansas City
Dionte Christmas                Temple
Josh Dotzler                         Creighton
Robert Dozier                       Memphis
Marcus Ginyard                    North Carolina
Tyler Hansbrough                North Carolina
Sam Hinnant                        East Carolina
Jason Holsinger                  Evansville
Lester Hudson                     Tennesee-Martin
Curtis Jerrells                      Baylor
Marcus Landry                     Wisconsin
Matt Lawrence                      Missouri
Andrew Lovedale                 Davidson
Jack McClinton                   Miami
Jerel McNeal                        Marquette
Leonard Mendez                  Georgia State
Danny Morrissey                  Penn State
Greg Paulus                         Duke
Tayler Rochestie                 Washington State
Matt Szalachowski               Lehigh
Paul Velander                      Nebraska
Andy Wicke                           Belmont
Gary Wilkinson                     Utah State
Terrence Wililams               Louisville
Sam Young                           Pittsburg