Nick Figueroa Named Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year
LOS ANGELES—USC redshirt senior defensive lineman Nick Figueroa has been named the 2022 Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year for his stellar academic and athletic performance.
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. Figueroa is the 21st Trojan to receive Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and is the first USC football recipient.
Earning his bachelor's degree in real estate development at USC in the spring of 2021 with a 3.76 GPA, Figueroa is now working on a master's in finance. The native of San Bernardino, Calif. graduated Magna Cum Laude from USC's Price School of Public Policy, where he was a two-time David X Marks Scholar Athlete (2020 and 2021) and a Stevens Scholar.
Figueroa was also a William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist in both 2021 and 2022, a Lott IMPACT Trophy quarterfinalist in 2022 and a semifinalist for the 2021 the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year and the Senior CLASS Awards.
In 2021, Figueroa made the CoSIDA Academic All-American second team and earned placement on the 2021 and 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-District team. Also in 2021, he won USC's Trojan Howard Jones/Football Alumni Club Academic Award and received the Co-Lifters Award.
Named to the Phil Steele All-Pac-12 third team as a sophomore, Figueroa was a 2020 All-Pac-12 honorable mention and a Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
A veteran leader on the Trojan defense, the scholar-athlete has tallied 64 career tackles, with 16.5 for loss and nine sacks, two pass deflections, one fumble recovery and a blocked kick in his career.
Off the field, Figueroa served with USC's Society 53 external affair committee, is a member of the Marshall Real Estate Finance Association (USC's premiere undergraduate real estate organization) and is a Price Latino Student Association member.
Figueroa, who has been very involved with philanthropic endeavors and charity work at USC, is an active member of the Trojan Outreach program (USC Athletics' philanthropic efforts) and volunteers with Second Spoon (a non-profit organization that distributes food to the homeless). He also volunteered at Safe Place for Youth (an organization in Venice, Calif. focused on serving homeless youth) and helped remodel an apartment at the Jenesse Center for Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention.
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 athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.