Bruce, Shirek Earn Degrees

Lincoln - Former Husker baseball players Daniel Bruce and Phil Shirek were among the 54 current or former student-athletes who graduated from the University of Nebraska over the weekend.

A four-year starter in the outfield and an All-Big 12 selection, Bruce earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2005 and  graduated with a degree in English. He was the Nebraska Male Student-Athlete of the Year in 2005, and won Big 12 and NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships last year. Bruce was a starter on two College World Series squads and helped NU to a pair of Big 12 regular-season titles

Shirek, a four-year starter on the mound who posted an 18-7 record with a 3.43 ERA during his Husker career, earned his degree in biological sciences and hopes to attend dental school in the fall. He finished his career on NU's career top-10 list for starts, appearances and innings pitched, while his 18 wins ties for 11th on NU's career win list.

Of the eight seniors in the 2005 class, seven have received their degrees while Joe Simokaitis is currently in professional baseball with the Chicago Cubs organization.

Overall, 84 Husker student-athletes have graduated this academic year before summer commencement exercises in August. Nebraska continues to lead the Big 12 and rank among the top schools in the nation with an exhausted eligibility graduation rate of 93 percent.