Vermont's Kotsopolous Named Candidate of Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

Vermont's Kotsopolous Named Candidate of Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

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Courtesy of UVM Athletic Communications

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont senior guard May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario) has been selected a candidate for the 2009-10 Lowe's Senior CLASS Women's Basketball Award. A total of 30 women's basketball players were named candidates for the award that is presented annually to a NCAA Division I student-athlete.

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 – classroom, character, community and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.

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.

Kotsopoulos, who was recently named to the 2009 America East Preseason All-Conference Team, has been named the America East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete in 2008 and 2009. She is also a two-time ESPN The Magazine Women's Basketball Academic All-District I selection. As a business administration major, she maintains a 3.67 grade point average at Vermont.

Kotsopoulos, the 2009 team MVP, was instrumental in the women's basketball team's run in winning the program's fifth America East Championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament last season. The 5-10 guard ranked second on the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) last year and reached the 1,000-point milestone as a junior.

She was named to the America East All-Conference Second Team, All-Defensive Team and All-Academic Team for the second straight year in 2009. Kotsopoulos also earned a spot on the America East All-Championship team after averaging 17 points and shooting 56 percent from three-point range and 82 percent from the foul line in three tournament games. She reached double figures in each game, with a tournament high of 21 in the victory over No. 1 Boston U in the championship game.

This year’s candidate class includes several players on the preseason watch lists for the women’s John R. Wooden Award, 11 players who are preseason favorites for the State Farm Wade Trophy and three players who finished their junior seasons as all-Americans. There are four players who were recognized last year as ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans and 11 women represent teams ranked in the top 25 women’s preseason poll.

Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award™ winner for men’s basketball at the 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four® in Indianapolis in April and for women’s basketball at the 2010 NCAA Women’s Final Four® in San Antonio in April.

The list of 30 candidates 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 finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition.

Kotosopoulos is the second straight Catamount to be selected as a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Women's Basketball Award. Former standout Amy Rosenkrantz '09 earned the honor last season.

Vermont will host Franklin Pierce in its final preseason contest on Saturday (Nov. 6) at 4:30 p.m. in the second game of a basketball doubleheader at Patrick Gymnasium. The UVM men's team will face Saint Michael's College at 1 p.m.

The women's game can be heard on WVMT-620 AM and on the Internet at SportsJuice.com. Live video of the game will also be available on a pay-per-view basis of ($7) via B2 Networks.