Three Big 12 standouts – J.T. Tiller of Missouri and Damion James and Dexter Pittman from Texas are part of the list of 30 men’s basketball student-athletes included on the list of candidates for the
2009-10 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS 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.

This year’s candidate class includes players on the preseason watch lists for the John R. Wooden Award, candidates for the AT&T Naismith Trophy, and those who finished their junior seasons as all-Americans.  Eleven men’s players are from teams ranked in the preseason top 25 polls.

Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the Senior CLASS Award winner for men’s basketball at the 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four® in Indianapolis in April.

The list of 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, 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 finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition.

This marks the ninth year for the basketball division of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. In 2005, Wayne Simien of Kansas became the first honoree from the Big 12 Conference in men’s basketball.

Big 12 Candidates – Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award
J.T. Tiller, Missouri, G
Damion James, Texas, G/F
Dexter Pittman, Texas, C