11 May 2000
CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206Coon Wins NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan University's Korey Coon is one of 32 basketball student- athletes to earn a postgraduate scholarship from the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The NCAA awarded postgraduate scholarships of $5,000 each to 35 football student-athletes and 32 basketball student-athletes at member institutions and annually awards 174 postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes who have excelled academically and athletically, and who are in their last year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
In addition to the football and basketball honorees, the NCAA awards grants to 107 student-athletes from sports other than football and basketball in which the NCAA conducts championships.
Of the 32 basketball scholarships, 16 were awarded to men and 16 to women. Twelve are awarded Division I student-athletes, 12 went to student-athletes in Divisions II and III and the remaining eight are at-large.
Coon was a first team GTE® Academic All-America and was named GTE® College Division "Academic All-American of the Year" for men's basketball for the past two years. He also won the 2000 Jostens Trophy, recognizing the outstanding student-athlete in Division III basketball.
The 6-foot guard from East Peoria High School graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average as a risk management and history major.
To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall grade-point average of 3.0 (4.0 scale) or its equivalent and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete was nominated. The student-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time graduate student.
FINAL NCAA STATISTICS RELEASED
In the final 1999-2000 NCAA statistics, Coon led Division III in free throw shooting with a mark of 96.3 percent, connecting on 157 of 163 tries. It was also best in any division. The Division I leader was Clay McKnight of Pacific, who made 74 of 78 for 94.9 percent, while the Division II leader was Jason Kreider of Michigan Tech at 92.3 percent (84 of 91).
As a team, IWU won the national Division III free throw title with a mark of 78.5 percent (426 of 543), just topping Chicago at 78.3 percent (462 of 590).
Coon also finished 13th nationally in scoring with a 22.0 average.