Suh Headlines Class of 37 Husker Graduates

 

Lincoln - The most decorated defensive football player in Nebraska history, Ndamukong Suh headlined a large class of 37 Husker student-athletes who earned their bachelor's degrees from the University of Nebraska during winter commencement ceremonies at the Bob Devaney Sports on Saturday morning.

 

Suh, a 6-4, senior defensive tackle from Portland, Ore., captured the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award, Bronko Nagurski Award, Chuck Bednarik Award and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting while leading the Huskers to the Big 12 North Division title. On Dec. 30, the All-American and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year will lead the Blackshirts against Arizona in the 2009 Holiday Bowl.

 

Before he joins his teammates in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl, Suh joined nine other current and former Husker football players in receiving diplomas from Nebraska. Fellow defensive stars from this season's crew of Blackshirts that ranked among the nation's top defensive units include Larry Asante and Matt O'Hanlon. David Harvey, Blake Lawrence, Colton Koehler, Derek Meyer and Tyrone Fahie are also set to earn degrees, along with former Huskers Octavious McFarlin and Hunter Teafatiller. A total of eight Huskers will be ready to compete for the Huskers in the Holiday Bowl with degree in hand.

 

Lawrence, who had his playing career come to an end in mid-season, earned his bachelor's degree in just 2 1/2 years from Nebraska. McFarlin lettered for Nebraska's national championship teams in 1994, 1995 and 1997.

 

The Nebraska women's basketball team had three Huskers pick up their diplomas at the Devaney Center on Saturday, including current seniors Cory Montgomery and Nicole Neals, along with 2009 senior Tay Hester. Montgomery and Neals will return to the Devaney Center court on Sunday at 1:05 p.m., when the No. 20 Huskers take on No. 5 LSU. Montgomery and Neals both earned bachelor's degrees in business-related fields in just 3 1/2 years.

 

The Nebraska volleyball team added a pair of distinguished student-athletes to the group of Husker graduates, including two-time first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American Kori Cooper, and 2008 CoSIDA Academic All-American and Nebraska Female Student-Athlete of the Year Amanda Gates. Cooper completed her senior season in 2009 by leading the Huskers to the round of eight in the NCAA Tournament, while Gates and Cooper helped the Huskers to the 2008 NCAA semifinals.

 

The track and field program featured four December graduates, including Chi Kalu, Kacie Sharp and Janae (Mueller) Chochon on the women's side, and Skyler Reising on the men's side.

 

Four former Husker baseball players, Johnny Dorn, Jason Burch, Jake Opitz and Jared Cranston received their diplomas on Saturday, along with a pair of former Husker men's basketball players, Paul Velander and Cole Salomon.

 

The NU women's gymnastics team added two graduates to the mix, including Tricia Woo and Sabrina Long, while the men's gymnastics program produced a pair of graduates in Jacob Ives and T.J. Schmidt.

 

Husker soccer players Anna Caniglia, Aysha Jamani, Kaile Schroff and Katie Wright were joined by wrestler Austin Baier, women's bowler Kaleena Henning, men's tennis player Renato Melo and men's golfer Trent Price in a distinguished class of NU graduates.

 

The Husker graduates came from 11 U.S. states, Canada, Nigeria, and Brazil, while also maintaining a rich Nebraska flavor with 13 graduates from the Cornhusker State.

 

“I admire each of these student-athletes for the way they balanced school with competition,” Nebraska Senior Associate Athletic Director for Academics, Compliance and Planning Dennis Leblanc said. “These graduates add to Nebraska’s great tradition of academic and athletic excellence. These student-athletes have come from different parts of the country and the world to receive the highest quality of education while competing in athletics at the highest level. The athletic department, the University and the entire state of Nebraska are proud of them.”  

 

Nebraska’s 2009 December class of graduates helped build on the Huskers’ great student-athlete tradition, which includes an NCAA-leading 271 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans across all sports. Nebraska continues to feature one of the highest graduation rates in the nation with a Big 12-leading exhausted eligibility graduation rate of 94 percent.

 

December 2009 Nebraska Student-Athlete Graduates (37)

• Student-Athlete, Sport, Hometown, Major
• Larry Asante, Football, Alexandria, Va., Economics
• Austin Baier, Wrestling, Greenfield, Iowa, Business Administration
• Jason Burch, Baseball, Papillion, Neb., Psychology
• Anna Caniglia, Soccer, Omaha, Neb., Marketing
• Kori Cooper, Volleyball, Amarillo, Texas, Speech Language Pathology
• Jared Cranston, Baseball, Colby, Kan., Geography
• Johnny Dorn, Baseball, Grand Island, Neb., Sociology
• Tyrone Fahie, Football, Virginia Beach, Va., Management
• Amanda Gates, Volleyball, Columbus, Neb., Communications
• David Harvey, Football, LaPlata, Md., Sociology
• Kaleena Henning, Bowling, North Platte, Neb., Sociology
• Tay Hester, Women's Basketball, Moreno Valley, Calif., Psychology
• Jacob Ives, Men's Gymnastics, Houston, Texas, Actuarial Science

• Aysha Jamani, Soccer, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Business Administration

• Chi Kalu, Women's Track and Field, Zaria, Nigeria, Advertising

• Colton Koehler, Football, Harvard, Neb., Business Administration
• Blake Lawrence, Football, Shawnee Mission, Kan., Marketing
• Sabrina Long, Women's Gymnastics, Tulsa, Okla., Communications
• Octavious McFarlin, Football, Bastrop, Texas, Sociology
• Renato Melo, Men's Tennis, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Finance Derek Meyer, Football, Campbell, Neb., Agribusiness
• Cory Montgomery, Women's Basketball, Cannon Falls, Minn., Business Administration
• Janae (Mueller) Chochon, Women's Track and Field, Columbus, Neb., Nutrition, Exercise and Health Science/Dietetics
• Nicole Neals, Women's Basketball, Chandler, Ariz., Management
• Matt O'Hanlon, Football, Bellevue, Neb., History Jake Opitz, Baseball, Littleton, Colo., Sociology

• Trent Price, Men's Golf, Lincoln, Neb., Business Administration

• Skyler Reising, Men's Track and Field, Lincoln, Neb., Music Education

• Cole Salomon, Men's Basketball, Omaha, Neb., Accounting

• T.J. Schmidt, Men's Gymnastics, Blair, Neb., Nutrition, Fitness and Health Sciences
• Kaile Schroff, Soccer, Lincoln, Neb., Marketing, Business Administration
• Kacie Sharp, Women's Track and Field, Plattsmouth, Neb., Biological Sciences
• Ndamukong Suh, Football, Portland, Ore., Construction Management
• Hunter Teafatiller, Football, Kingsburg, Calif., Communications
• Paul Velander, Men's Basketball, Blacksburg, Va., Biological Sciences
• Tricia Woo, Women's Gymnastics, Milpitas, Calif., Nutrition Science
• Katie Wright, Soccer, Mission Viejo, Calif., Psychology

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