Pac-12 Baseball Scholar Athlete of the Year Named

SAN FRANCISCO - CALIFORNIA's Nick Halamandaris was named the Pac-12 Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2016 season, the Conference office announced on Monday. The award, which is presented in each of the 23 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline. 

Since the award's inception in 2008, Halamandaris is the first Golden Bear to garner the recognition in baseball. The senior from Monterey, Calif. has been outstanding in the classroom at California, boasting a 3.43 GPA as an english major. He earned first team Pac-12 All-Academic honors in 2014 and 2015. Halamandaris appeared in all but one game for the Golden Bears, recording 64 hits, five of which were home runs, while also driving in 43 runs. He spent time in left field to start the year before shifting over to become a stalwart defensively at first base. The senior earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention for his work during the 2016 season.

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 23 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, 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.

Also Nominated: Stephen Packard, ORE; Marc Huberman, USC; Spencer Jones, WASH.