Johnson Selected For Lowe?s Senior CLASS Award
11/04/11 | Women's Basketball
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Senior Amanda Johnson was chosen as one of sixty candidates that excel both on and off the court for the 2011-12 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, it was announced today.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an 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 Lowe's 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.
The women's 30-candidate class includes Johnson – the only CoSIDA Academic All-American on the list – two Associated Press All-Americans, and 12 players whose teams are ranked in the Associated Press preseason top 25.
Johnson is also one of three student-athletes from the Pac-12 on the women's list as USC's Briana Gilbreath and Stanford's Nnemkadi Ogwumike were also named candidates.
The 2011-12 men's class includes three players who were members of last year's CoSIDA Academic All-American team, one Associated Press All-American and seven players who are on teams ranked in the Associated Press preseason top 25 poll.
Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the women's award winner during the NCAA Women's Final Four®, which will be held April 1 and 3 in Denver. The men's Senior CLASS Award® winner will be announced during the 2012 NCAA Men's Final Four®, which will be held March 31 and April 2 in New Orleans.
The 60 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in both men's and women's basketball 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, Division I men's and women's coaches and fans who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
Johnson enters her senior year in the top 10 of four all-time statistical categories (rebounds, steals, 3-pointers, double-doubles) at Oregon. Last season, she became just the ninth player in UO history, and the first since 2002, to reach the 1,000-point threshold during just three years on the court. Currently her 1,146 career-point total ranks 18th in UO women's basketball history. For the last two seasons, Johnson was a Pac-10 honorable mention selection after finishing third in the conference in both scoring (15.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg) as a junior.
The native of Santa Rosa, Calif., was named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America® women's basketball first team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America in February of 2011. With that honor, Johnson became just the second student-athlete in Oregon women's basketball program history and the first since 1990, to be chosen as a first team Academic All-American. An Academic All-America second team pick as a sophomore in 2010, Johnson enters her senior season on pace to become the first three-time Academic All-American honoree in UO women's basketball program history.
Entering her fourth year at Oregon, Johnson is currently a graduate student earning a master's degree in Counseling Psychology and Human Services with a 4.16 grade point average. Johnson was awarded her undergraduate degree Summa Cum Laude, graduating in the top two percent of her class with a double major in psychology and sociology following her sophomore year in the summer of 2010. In addition, Johnson is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team selection, and for the last two years has been awarded the Harry Ritchie Scholar Athlete Award, given to an Oregon women's basketball player for her athletic and scholastic achievements.
As a student-athlete, Johnson has had many opportunities to exemplify her leadership ability. On the team, she is serving her second year as team captain. University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere appointed her as the student-athlete representative on the search committee for the Director of Athletics in 2010, joining faculty and athletic department administration. She was also appointed to the Matthew Knight Arena Art Selection Committee in 2009.
Johnson has also been an active member of the University of Oregon Athletic Department's student run service organization, O Heroes. The program offers opportunities to volunteer as a department, a team and as an individual.
The Ducks begin the season at 7 p.m. Thursday, hosting Concordia in an exhibition game at Matthew Knight Arena before hosting 2011 Big West regular season co-champion Cal Poly in the season opener at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
