UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State graduate guard Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) has been named as one of 30 candidates for the 2013-14 Senior CLASS Award in men's basketball. The award is presented to the NCAA Division I senior student-athlete with notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.
CLASSROOMA 2013 graduate of Penn State as a two-time Dean’s List honoree, Frazier holds a bachelor's degree in supply chain and information systems management from the Smeal College of Business and currently is pursuing a second degree in communications. He graduated with over a 3.1 grade-point average and became Penn State's 10th three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection
CHARACTERFrazier's exemplary attitude and dedication to the Penn State basketball program could not have been illustrated better than during the 2012-13 season after the standout guard went down with a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the year. He ruptured the Achilles tendon in his left leg just 5:30 into a Nov. 18 meeting with Akron, but throughout the extensive rehab process, Frazier remained a vocal and active presence off the court and became an even greater student of the game assisting the coaching staff in practices and games.
COMMUNITYFrazier is an outstanding member of the Penn State campus and surrounding community, regularly participating in events and fundraisers. In continued coordination with Penn State’s THON, he regularly hosts two pediatric cancer patients at Penn State games and functions. Relatedly, Frazier and his teammates make an annual trip to the Hershey Cancer Institute to visit with adult and pediatric patients, in addition to working with Special Olympics, the Alzheimer's Association and a host of other organizations.
COMPETITIONBefore going down with a season-ending injury last year, Frazier was posting 21.7 ppg and 5.8 apg with assists on 45.3 percent of available possessions (the second highest rate in the nation at the time). He entered the year as a a preseason All-Big Ten selection after earning first-team honors as a junior and was named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 and Naismith Award preseason watch list.
In his last full season of competition in 2011-12, Frazier became just the sixth Nittany Lion to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors (media) and the first in program history to be selected to the Big Ten All-Defensive team. The Big Ten leader in assists (6.2 apg) and second-leading scorer (18.8 ppg) earned Basketball Times' Northeast All-District honorees and was a second-team NABC All-District pick after posting one of the best statistical seasons in Penn State history.
Currently standing 24th (1,035) on PSU's all-time scoring charts and sixth (459) in assists, he brings 20 career 20-point or better scoring games into his final campaign. He is the program's record holder in single-season assists (198) and sits in sixth in program history with 459, just 142 shy of the all-time record at Penn State.
The Senior CLASS AwardAn acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the 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.
Of the 60 combined men's and women's candidates, 20 have grade point averages of 3.5 or higher. There are eight CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-Americans® and seven returning All-Americans. Twenty-four of the 32 NCAA Division I basketball-playing conferences are represented as well.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Men's Final Four® and NCAA Women's Final Four®.
Each of the 30 candidate classes 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 male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.