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Whitney Knight named candidate for NCAA Senior CLASS Award

FGCU senior Whitney Knight has been recognized among 60 NCAA men and women student-athletes for her performance both on and off the court. She has been named as a candidate for the 2015-16 Senior CLASS Award, a NCAA-sanctioned award.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a 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 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.
All candidates have a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. Each candidate also volunteers his or her time with charitable organizations and causes while upholding a reputation for positive character on campus and in the community.
The 30 women’s candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists by a national media committee in February, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot.
Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system and fans will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs: community, classroom, character and competition.
Knight is FGCU’s second candidate for this award in program history. 2014 graduate Sarah Hansen was named to the final 30 student-athletes during the 2013-14 season.
Knight finished her undergraduate degree with a 3.2 cumulative grade point average as a Community Health major and holds a 3.54 GPA in her Health Studies graduate degree. She was named to the Dean’s List twice in the last year and earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll status six times during her undergraduate coursework.
Knight volunteers her time at local elementary schools as part of ‘Eagle Reading,’ a program in which athletes read to children at the beginning of the school day once a week. She has also been involved in efforts to raise money and collect food items for the Harry Chapin Food Bank, a local organization that helps the SWFL community and students on FGCU’s campus.
The reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year led the league as a junior with 15.1 points per game and stood as the nation’s only player to lead a conference in both 3-pointers made and blocked shots.
Knight has been named the Player of the Year, a First Team All- Conference honoree and the A-Sun Tournament MVP. Throughout her career, Knight has scored 1,285 points to rank third all-time in the FGCU record books and she tops the records with 265 blocks. She ranks second in the A-Sun record books for blocks and also stands among the FGCU top-five in rebounds (5th – 580) and steals (3rd – 170).

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