Arizona State's Kelly named football Scholar-Athlete of the Year
SAN FRANCISCO- ARIZONA STATE quarterback Taylor Kelly has been named the 2014 football Scholar-Athlete of the Year, announced by the Pac-12 Conference today. These awards have been established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.
Kelly, a redshirt senior from Eagle, Idaho, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in educational studies in May 2014 and is currently enrolled in a Master’s of Legal Studies program focusing on sports law and business, maintaining a 3.31 grade point average. As the starting quarterback for the No. 17 ranked Sun Devils in 2014, he threw for 20 touchdowns and 1,874 yards, while rushing for 232 yards and three touchdowns. Kelly led the Sun Devils in total offense averaging 234.0 yards per game and quarterbacked ASU to wins over No. 18 Utah and No. 8 Notre Dame this season. The senior threw for 77 touchdowns in his career at ASU, ranking third in all-time in Sun Devil history. Kelly finished first all-time in ASU history in average total offense with 262.1 yards per game and first in career points responsible for with 540.
Off the field, Kelly is a six-time Scholar Baller at Arizona State, an honor awarded to student-athletes who achieve over a 3.0 GPA in a semester. He is a very active member of the university and the Phoenix Valley, and is heavily involved in the ASU’s Scholar Baller leadership and outreach program, where he helps develop curriculum, deliver, teach and mentor students at high schools around the community. He often speaks to numerous groups and classrooms about the importance of integrity, character and academics, and teaches life skills.
"The Pac-12 Conference has great pride and respect for our rich history of academic and athletic excellence," said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. "We are proud of this year's group of student-athletes and their dedication to achieving success in sports and in the classroom."
In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.
A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 22 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling.
The Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards were established during the 2007-08 academic year.
Other nominees included: Jared Tevis, ARIZ; Chris Adcock, CAL; Will Oliver, COLO; Jake Fisher, ORE; Sean Mannion, OSU; Ben Rhyne, STAN; Eric Kendricks, UCLA; Eric Rowe, UTAH; Danny Shelton, WASH