WALTHAM, Mass. – Four Brandeis University student-athletes from the 2016-17 school year have been named to the University Athletic Association President's Scholar-Athlete Team. To achieve this recognition, a student-athlete must earn first team All-Association honors and must carry a 3.50 or greater cumulative grade point average during that playing season.
The Judges' four honorees are: Brian Granoff '17, of Miami, Florida, men's tennis; Mitchell Hutton '18, of Villa Park, California, men's cross country; Maria Jackson '18 of Rochester, New York, women's basketball; and Cidney Moscovitch '17 of Coral Springs, Florida, women's soccer.
Granoff was a first-team All-UAA selection at No. 2 singles for the Judges, going 17-6 overall and 11-1 at No. 2, the top winning percentage in the conference. His 106 career wins were second all-time in head coach Ben Lamanna's tenure. Granoff helped the Judges to a 12-8 record last year and a national-ranking of #19 in Division III, their highest since 1989. Granoff graduated with a 3.65 GPA with a degree in economics and a business minor.
Hutton earned first-team All-Association honors by finishing fourth at the conference cross-country championships last October with a time of 24:54.34, his first time running under 25 minutes in college. Hutton helped Sinead Delhunty Evans' Judges finish third overall at UAAs, their best finish since 2009. Hutton enters his senior year with a 3.77 GPA as a biology and business double major.
Jackson was a first-team All-UAA forward/center for head coach Carol Simon after leading Brandeis in scoring (13.6 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg), steals (49) and blocked shots (26). She ranked third in the UAA in rebounding, fifth in steals and blocks and 10th in scoring. She helped the Judges to a 12-13 record. She graduated in May with a 3.66 GPA and a degree in linguistics and a minor in French.
Moscovitch was a first-team All-UAA forward and led Denise Dallamora's team to a 16-3-3 record and their first-ever Final Four. She scored seven goals with five assists for 19 points. Moscovitch's 10 points on four goals and two assists in UAA matches led all players last season, while her 10 career game-winning goals are tied for fourth in Brandeis history. Moscovitch graduated in May with a 3.65 GPA and degrees in biology and anthropology and a minor in chemistry.
The UAA Presidents Council created this special recognition in 2009. The original recommendation to establish this honor came from the UAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was supported by the Athletic Administrators and Delegates Committees.
The UAA has recognized exceptional academic achievement by its student-athletes since 1998 when the Presidents Council established a program of All-Academic recognition for student-athletes who carry a cumulative grade point average that meets the threshold for Academic All-America® recognition (currently a 3.30 GPA). On average, approximately 56% of eligible sophomore, junior, and senior student-athletes from UAA member teams have met that threshold each year. "While our student-athletes appreciated the All-Academic recognition, they sought something that would more directly recognize the combination of academic and athletic excellence that is at the core of the UAA philosophy," commented UAA Executive Secretary Dick Rasmussen. "In proposing the concept of the award, one of our SAAC members suggested — 'as UAA student-athletes this is what we do, this is who we are.'"
As a group, UAA student-athletes and teams have consistently demonstrated high levels of both academic and athletic achievement. The UAA Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete Team recognition demonstrates the success of these principles at the level of the individual student-athlete.
Biennial studies completed by the Association over the last 16 years have consistently shown the cumulative grade point averages of athletic teams have been statistically equal to the campus population GPA. In the most recent study, covering the 2014-15 academic year, UAA female student athletes had an overall combined average cumulative GPA of 3.42, while UAA male student-athletes had an overall combined average cumulative GPA of 3.30. Of the 68 women's teams and 70 men's teams included in the study, 88 teams (64 percent) met or exceeded the existing 3.30 GPA standard for nominating individuals for Academic All-America® recognition.