Theriot Named Senior Class Award Candidate
Theriot Named Senior Class Award CandidateTheriot Named Senior Class Award Candidate
Women's Basketball

Theriot Named Senior Class Award Candidate

Nebraska point guard Rachel Theriot was selected as one of 30 candidates across the country for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award in NCAA Division I women’s basketball, the Senior CLASS Award announced on Tuesday.

Theriot is one of just three Big Ten student-athletes named to the list of candidates, joining her former club teammate and current Maryland center Malina Howard, and Ohio State guard Cait Craft.

Theriot joins Nebraska men’s basketball senior Shavon Shields as candidates for the award. Nebraska is one of only four schools nationally in Division I to have a male and female candidate in basketball, joining Oklahoma, Gonzaga and Albany.

A 6-0 senior from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, Theriot has helped guide the Husker women’s basketball team to three consecutive NCAA Tournament trips in her first three seasons at Nebraska. A candidate for the Naismith Trophy, the Allstate Good Works Team and CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2016, Theriot was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and an honorable-mention Associated Press All-American as a sophomore in 2014. She led the Huskers to the Big Ten Tournament championship as the tournament MVP in 2014. A two-time preseason All-Big Ten choice, Theriot had her junior season cut short by an ankle injury on Feb. 3, 2015. Before her injury, Nebraska owned a 17-4 record and was ranked in the top-15 nationally. She averaged 16.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 21 games as a junior.

Theriot missed Nebraska’s final 11 games last season, and battled through more than six months of rehabilitation to be ready for the start of the 2015-16 season. As a senior, she is averaging 12.1 points per game, while leading the Big Ten Conference and ranking 12th nationally with 6.4 assists per game for the 12-5 Huskers who own a three-game Big Ten winning streak heading into Wednesday night’s game at first-place Purdue. She ranks fifth in Nebraska history with 553 career assists and owns more than 1,200 career points. Theriot is also one of the best three-point and free throw shooters by percentage in Nebraska history.

Off the court, Theriot is a two-time academic All-Big Ten selection and a six-time member of the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll. She is also a two-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.

The Senior CLASS Award recognizes notable achievements by student-athletes in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. “CLASS” is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, and the 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 Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Women’s Final Four®.

Each of the 30 candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 finalists in February, 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 male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.

For more information on each of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CANDIDATES

Jillian Alleyne

Oregon

Jonquel Jones

George Washington

Ashley Beverly Kelley

Troy

Jordan Jones

Texas A&M

Imani Boyette

Texas

Whitney Knight

Florida Gulf Coast

Adut Bulgak

Florida State

Zahna Medley

Texas Christian

Ruvanna Campbell

Illinois at Chicago

Kelsey Minato

Army West Point

Cait Craft

Ohio State

Tiffany Mitchell

South Carolina

Elisha Davis

Arizona State

Janelle Perez

Northwestern State

Aundrea Gamble

Arkansas State

Shereesha Richards

Albany

Ruth Hamblin

Oregon State

Raquel Scott

Holy Cross

Nikki Hegstetter

Alabama

Breanna Stewart

Connecticut

Bria Holmes

West Virginia

Rachel Theriot

Nebraska

Malina Howard

Maryland

Elle Tinkle

Gonzaga

Marissa Janning

Creighton

Kaylon Williams

Oklahoma

Moriah Jefferson

Connecticut

Elizabeth Wood

Maine

Chanise Jenkins

DePaul

Michelle Woods

Maimi (FL)

MEN’S BASKETBALL CANDIDATES:

Ryan Arcidiacono

Villanova

Cedric Kuakumensah

Brown

Craig Bradshaw

Belmont

Egidijus Mockevicius

Evansville

Malcolm Brogdon

Virginia

Nic Moore

SMU

John Brown

High Point

Georges Niang

Iowa State

Kyle Collinsworth

BYU

Ethan O'Day

Vermont

Rapheal Davis

Purdue

Marcus Paige

North Carolina

Perry Ellis

Kansas

Alex Poythress

Kentucky

Obi Emegano

Oral Roberts

James Robinson

Pittsburgh

Phil Forte

Oklahoma State

Justin Sears

Yale

Chris Fowler

Central Michigan

Shavon Shields

Nebraska

Mike Gesell

Iowa

Denzel Valentine

Michigan State

Shaq Goodwin

Memphis

Fred VanVleet

Wichita State

Buddy Hield

Oklahoma

Thoams Walkup

Stephen F. Austin

Peter Hooley

Albany

Jameel Warney

Stony Brook

Amile Jefferson

Duke

Kyle Wiltjer

Gonzaga