www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa
Wheaton, Ill. – The NCAA announced on Thursday that Wheaton alumnus
Kent Raymond (BA '08 and MA '10) will be the recipient of its 2010 Today's Top VIII Award. The award will be presented to Raymond at the NCAA Honors and Delegates Celebration at the 2010 NCAA Convention in Atlanta in January, 2010. Raymond played basketball at Wheaton in 2004-05 and from 2006-09. He currently plays professionally for CB L'Hospitalet in Catalonia, Spain.
The Top VIII honorees are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, which is composed of eight athletics administrators at member institutions and nationally distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes. The award recognizes the top student-athletes at all NCAA levels and their work in competition, in the classroom and in the community.
Joining Raymond as honorees are:
Tim Tebow, Florida (football);
Amanda Blumenherst. Duke (women's golf);
Courtney Kupets, Georgia (women's gymnastics);
Venessa Lee, Pittsburg State (women's cross country and indoor and outdoor track);
Jeff Lerg, Michigan State (men's ice hockey);
Brittany Rogers, Alabama (softball) and
Sarah Stevens, Arizona State (women's indoor and outdoor track).
Wheaton Athletic Director
Tony Ladd noted of Raymond's recognition, “As a model scholar-athlete,
Kent Raymond is a worthy recipient of the NCAA Top VIII Award. Through his performance on and off the court he represents the best of college athletics.” Ladd added, “By way of Kent receiving this award, Wheaton College is also honored to have students like Kent as a member of our athletic teams and as a full participant in the life of the College.”
Raymond scored 2,308 career points in his four-year career at Wheaton, the second-highest point total in school history. His career scoring total is the fourth-highest mark in CCIW history. He is also the school's all-time three-point field goal leader, the all-time free throw leader and is in the Wheaton record books in more than 30 career, single-season and single-game records.
A three-time All-American, Raymond was recognized as the 2008-09 Division III “Player of the Year” by DIIINews following his senior season. He is a three-time selection as the Midwest Region Player of the Year by both D3Hoops.com and the National Association of Basketball coaches and is one of only three players to be recognized as the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) “Most Outstanding Player” three times.
Among Raymond's off-the-court activities include basketball clinics on the south side of Chicago and volunteering at a Naperville food pantry. He has also participated in mission trips to Mexico and Costa Rica and also joined the Thunder basketball team on its sports ministry trip to South Africa in 2007.
A two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, Raymond earned his Bachelor's Degree from Wheaton in Communication in 2008 with a 3.70 cumulative grade point average. He is currently enrolled working on his Master's Degree in Intercultural Studies with an anticipated graduation in December, 2010.
