Dec. 23, 2008
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University senior Jami Schaefer has been selected as one of 30 women's basketball candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award is presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports.
Schaefer, a guard from Spokane, Wash., is the only West Coast Conference player included among this season's 30 candidates.
Based on criteria focusing on the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition, the award winners will be selected by national balloting of head basketball coaches, national media and college basketball fans. Lowe's, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, will present the winners with trophies during the weekends of the respective NCAA Men's and Women's Final Four.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings.
From the list of 30 nominees, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in February 2009. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote. In addition to voting by Division I head basketball coaches and national media, college basketball fans will also be able to submit ballots by text voting or on-line at www.seniorclassaward.com.
Schaefer, one of only two seniors on the Gonzaga roster, was named the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year a season ago. She is averaging 5.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 assists per game.
A business administration major with a 3.94 GPA, Schaefer has also garnered recognition for her success in the classroom. Most notably, Schaefer was selected to the 2008 Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team as selected by the I-AAA Athletic Directors Association and was named to the ESPN The Magazine/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) District VIII All-Academic team as both a sophomore and a junior. She was also included on the WCC Winter Academic squad in 2007 and 2008.
Schaefer has also been active in the community during her four years at Gonzaga. She was the key note speaker for the Annual Youth Awards Luncheon in 2008 and volunteered at the Lilac Plaza Retirement Community and assisted with the Alzheimer's Associate Fundraiser in both 2007 and 2008. Schaefer, who was married this past summer, is also highly involved with her church, and organizes and leads weekly team bible study during the academic year.
Connecticut's Sue Bird captured the inaugural award, and subsequent award winners have included notable names like Duke's Alana Beard (2004), LSU's Seimone Augustus (2006) and the reigning award winner, Stanford's Candice Wiggins (2008).
