PROVIDENCE, RI – Commissioner Mike Aresco has announced that Southern Methodist University forward Semi Ojeleye has been named the 2016-17 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The selection was made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee.
A senior from Ottawa, Kansas, he will receive a $2,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies. Earlier this month, Ojeleye was named a Second Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
He helped lead his Mustang team to its second American regular-season title in three seasons while averaging a team-leading 18.5 points in addition to 6.5 rebounds. SMU, currently ranked 12/15, heads into the upcoming conference championship as the No. 1 seed with a 27-4 overall record after finishing with a 17-1 mark in league play. In 18 conference games this season, he averaged 18.8 points and 6.1 rebounds.
Ojeleye has scored in double figures in 30 of 31 contests and in 23 consecutive contests and registered 20 or more points on 11 occasions. He has registered four double-doubles, including a career-high 30 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Temple earlier this season. Ojeleye also has led the Mustangs in scoring 16 times. A two-time player-of-the-week honoree and six-time member of the Conference’s Honor Roll, Ojeleye is among the conference leaders in points (third), rebounds (16th), field goal percentage (ninth) and three-point field goal percentage (second).
He owns a 3.656 grade-point average and has earned Dean’s List distinction four times while majoring in psychology and is the third SMU player to be named an Academic All-American. Nominated for the NABC Good Works Team earlier this year, he is active in community service efforts I Have A Dream Foundation, volunteering at Tische Elementary School and handing out turkeys at Thanksgiving. Ojeleye is SMU’s third player in program history.
The American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the conference during the 2016-17 academic year. One male and one female from each of the conference’s 11 member institutions may be named as the winners of the conference’s Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships. The conference also names male and female Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year and a Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The winners of the institutional, basketball and football awards are then eligible for the American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which provides an additional postgraduate scholarship to one male and one female student-athlete.
American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year
2013-14 Jimmy McDonnell, Temple
2014-15 Pat Lenehan, UConn
2015-16 Shaquille Harrison, Tulsa
2016-17 Semi Ojeleye, SMU