The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and one in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps over 500,000 college student athletes who compete annually in college sports. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur athlete from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-America team for their sport. Some sports will have multiple All-America teams and will list the honorees as members of a first team, second team, or third team. As such, All-America teams are composed of outstanding US amateur players. Individuals falling short of qualifying for the honor may receive All-America honorable mention. The designation is typically used at the collegiate level, although, beginning in 1957, high school athletes in football began being honored with All-American status, which then carried over to other sports like basketball and cross-country running. The selection criteria vary by sport. Athletes at the high school and college level placed on All-America teams are referred to as All-Americans.
The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the All–America Teams.
Valerie B. Ackerman is an American sports executive, former lawyer, and former basketball player. She is the current commissioner of the Big East Conference. She is best known for being the first president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), serving from 1996 to 2005. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level. The name comes from the French "les Diables Bleus" or "the Blue Devils," which was the nickname given during World War I to the Chasseurs Alpins, the French Alpine light infantry battalion.
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United States and to a certain extent in Canada, but in the vast majority of countries in the world they are rare or non-existent.
Kristina Ann Kowal is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Kowal represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, winning the silver medal in the 200-meter breaststroke. She was the first American woman to win a world championship title in the 100-meter breaststroke.
The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academic excellence in America's young people." It was founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, longtime Army Black Knights football coach Earl Blaik and journalist Grantland Rice.
In American and Canadian college athletics, a walk-on is someone who becomes part of a college team without being recruited or awarded an athletic scholarship. Walk-on players are generally viewed as weaker less-significant players and may not even be placed on an official depth chart or traveling team, while the scholarship players are a team's main players. However, a walk-on player occasionally becomes a noted member of the team.
The Today's Top 10 Award is given each year by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to honor ten former outstanding senior student-athletes. The award was previously known by three different names, each reflecting the number of recipients:
The Silver Anniversary Awards are awarded every year by the American National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to recognize six distinguished former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary as college graduates. The Silver Anniversary Awards were first given in 1973, when five distinguished former student-athletes were honored, including Stewart Udall, Donald Mulder, John Hopper, John Ferraro, and Ray Evans. Since 1986, the number of annual honorees has increased to six.
Kimberly "Kim" Black is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist.
James Matthew Dombrowski is an American former professional football player who played his entire 11-years career as a guard and offensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Dombrowski played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers, earning consensus All-American honors. A first-round pick in the 1986 NFL Draft, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.
Christine Grant was a Scottish-born American athlete, coach, administrator, and advocate for women's college athletics. Dr. Grant served as the athletic director at the University of Iowa from 1973 until 2000. She was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Grant was also inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
The Walter Byers Scholar program is a scholarship program that recognizes the top male and female student-athlete in NCAA sports and that is awarded annually by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It is considered to be the NCAA's highest academic award. The NCAA initiated the Walter Byers Scholarship program in 1988 in recognition of the service of Walter Byers. The award is a postgraduate scholarship program designed to encourage excellence in academic performance by student-athletes. The recipients each year are the one male and one female student-athlete who has combined the best elements of mind and body to achieve national distinction for his or her achievements, and who promises to be a future leader in his or her chosen field of career service. Winners receive scholarships for postgraduate study.
Matthew Busbee was fourteen-time All-American swimmer, three-time NCAA 200-meter freestyle relay champion, two-time NCAA Championship team member, who was selected as an NCAA Top VIII Award winner as one of the eight top NCAA student-athletes and the 2000 male Walter Byers Scholarship winner as the National Collegiate Athletic Association's top scholar-athlete. He was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree, and a three-time College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-American.
Mal Mathad Moore was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the athletic director at the University of Alabama from 1999 to 2013. On November 23, 1999, he was hired as athletic director after spending almost thirty years in other areas with the university. As a player, coach, and director of athletics, Moore was part of ten national championship football teams. In May 2012, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Moore died March 30, 2013, in Durham, North Carolina.
The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls track & field, girls softball, and girls volleyball.
Gregg Kevin Carr is currently an orthopedic surgeon in Birmingham, Alabama and a former professional American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), where he played four seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1985–1988). Carr was an All-American college football linebacker at Auburn University (1981–1984) and later attended the University of Alabama School of Medicine.
