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