Stanford's Beskind named Pac-12 Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Mar 9, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO - STANFORD's Sam Beskind was named the 2021-22 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Conference office announced ahead of the Pac-12 Tournament. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

The former walk-on turned scholarship player from Tucson, Ariz., has been civic-minded while maintaining a 3.90 grade-point average as an undergraduate and 3.64 GPA as Management Science & Engineering graduate student, focusing his post-grad studies on Energy and Environment.

Beskind took an active role in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) #AllVoteNoPlay Day for voter engagement by working with Stanford d.school professors and Vote-By-Design to create a "playbook" of civics related drills to inform coaches and student-athletes. He also helped plan a campus "Democracy Day" on Election Day, which was heavily attended by student-athletes.

During the pandemic, Beskind created a volunteer matching form to help match those in need with those who could donate food, supplies and toiletries. During the summer offseasons, he has interned with Nike's Global Operations unit, Altamont Capital, and HomeCourt AI.

The fourth-year Cardinal has seen action in a career-best 27 games so far in 2021-22, including four starts. He has twice been named to the Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll, was a member of the 2021 NABC Honors Court, and serves on Stanford's CAPER (Committee on Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation) as the lone male athlete appointed by the office of the president.

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 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum 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 athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 24 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, women’s lacrosse, 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 award was first established during the 2007-08 academic year.

ALSO NOMINATED: Andre Kelly, California; Chevez Goodwin, USC; Riley Battin, Utah; Reagan Lundeen, Washington.