FRISCO ? A little more than one week after picking up All-Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team honors, UTSA senior Kurt Attaway has been named to the Capitol One Bank/Southland Conference Men’s Basketball All-Academic First Team for the third consecutive season, the league office announced Wednesday.
Attaway, the SLC Student-Athlete of the Year in 2004-05 and 2005-06, joins Ryan Bright ? this year’s Capitol One Bank/SLC Student-Athlete of the Year ? Jejuan Plair and Aaron Wade of Sam Houston State and Anthony Vereen of Texas-Arlington on the first team. Second-team honorees include Ryan Griffin and Shamir McDaniel of Sam Houston State, Michael McConathy of Northwestern State, Matt Slatnick of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Scott Weaver of Stephen F. Austin. Cardell Hunter and Brandon Long of Texas-Arlington and Jeremy Thomas of Sam Houston State were named honorable mention.
Attaway completed his four-year career in March and ranks as one of the school’s all-time leading student-athletes. The Flower Mound Marcus High product carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average and will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. A three-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI selection, he also was an honorable mention candidate for the prestigious Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup Award and was UTSA’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
On the court, Attaway led the league in steals (2.1 per game) and ranked fifth in assists (4.1 per game) this season. The 2003-04 SLC Freshman of the Year finished his UTSA career in fourth place on the career steals (162) and assists (371) lists and 31st in points (661) and rebounds (281). In 2006-07, Attaway averaged 7.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest and shot 72.4 percent from the free throw line. He nearly matched the school’s single-game record for assists with 12 in a Nov. 22 loss to Cal State Fullerton.
Bright, a junior kinesiology with a 3.57 grade point average, was a first-team All-Southland Conference selection following the 2007 season. He was a three-time SLC Player of the Week for the 21-10 Bearkats that posted a 13-3 record to place second in the West Division of the SLC standings. Bright ranked in the top 10 in the Southland in scoring (14.8 points per game), rebounds (8.1 rpg), field goal percentage and steals (1.7 spg). He became the 20th Bearkat to score more than 1,000 career points (1,069) and has now scored in double figures 55 times in his career. Bright is a Dean’s List student and a member of the SHSU Student Athlete Advisory Council.
The student-athlete of the year is annually presented to the individual in each conference sport who achieves excellence in academics and athletics. Nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average to go along with superior athletics achievement.
Included in Capital One’s support of the Southland Conference Academic Awards Program is the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship presented by Capital One, and the Capital One Southland Conference All-Academic Teams, the Capital One Scholar-Athlete Award and the Capital One Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
