TWO FERRIS STATE STUDENT-ATHLETES RECEIVE NCAA AWARDS

Carlton Epps & Navreet Gill Are FSU's First Ever Degree-Completion Recipients

NCAA Award Winners

Carlton Epps (top) & Navreet Gill (bottom) have been chosen to receive NCAA-II Degree-Completion Awards

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Two Ferris State University student-athletes who recently completed their collegiate eligibility have been chosen to receive NCAA Degree-Completion Awards to continue their education in an announcement made by the NCAA.

The Division II Degree-Completion Award Committee chose 91 applicants to receive degree-completion funds for the 2005-06 term, including FSU's Carlton Epps (Benton Harbor) and Navreet Gill (Brampton, Ontario/Mayfield Secondary), who represent the school's first-ever recipients of the award. The 6-2 Epps played his final season of collegiate basketball for the Bulldogs in 2004-05 while Gill concluded her Bulldog softball career during the 2005 spring season.

The Division II Degree-Completion Award program provides financial assistance to deserving student-athletes for the completion of their first baccalaureate degree. To receive the award, students must have completed their athletics eligibility and received financial aid for athletics. Recipients must have solid academic credentials. The committee also considers financial circumstances, athletics achievement and involvement in campus and community activities when making its funding decisions. The funding must be used to complete undergraduate degree requirements at the Division II institution where the applicant last competed.

"We are very pleased to have Navreet and Carlton as our first-ever NCAA Degree-Completion recipients," said FSU Athletics Director Tom Kirinovic. "When we bring student-athletes to campus, we tell them that their primary goal is to gain a degree. The NCAA dollars will assist both Navreet and Carlton to reach that goal and allow us to help other deserving student-athletes reach their goal of gaining a degree."

Epps and Gill were among 11 student-athletes from Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) member institutions included in the list of recipients. The committee also selected 12 alternates from across the nation in the event any of the 91 recipients decline the award. The Division II Degree-Completion Award Program was founded in 2001, when 32 awards were distributed.

A two-time (2004-05) All-GLIAC North Division First Team honoree, Epps concluded his collegiate career ranked among the school's all-time leaders in scoring (1,544), rebounds (454), steals (270), assists (250), free throw percentage (.820), three-point field goal percentage (.426), made three-pointers (240) and blocked shots (53). In addition to posting school career records for three-pointers and steals, he also notched single-season marks with 102 treys, 95 steals and a .883 free throw percentage in 2004-05.

Epps became only the sixth player in Bulldog history to score over 600 points in a campaign as he finished the year with 602 total points. The two-time (2003-04) GLIAC North Division All-Defensive Team pick also attained Daktronics All-Great Lakes Region First Team kudos this campaign in addition to being named to the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional All-Tournament Team and the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II Great Lakes Region All-District First Team.

The 5-4 Gill attained All-GLIAC Honorable Mention accolades in 2005 after batting a personal career-high .283 as a starter at shortstop in all 51 contests. She scored a team-leading 39 runs this year while smacking three doubles, two triples, one home run and 12 RBIs. In the field, Gill compiled a career-best .926 fielding percentage with 81 putouts and 118 assists.

The three-time (2003-05) GLIAC All-Academic Team honoree also was midst her second year as committee chairperson of the Ferris State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's Campus Involvement program during the 2004-05 academic term and was a two-time (2003-04) National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Scholar-Athlete recipient.

The Bulldog men's basketball team capped off its 2004-05 season with a runner-up finish in the NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament (March 12-15) held in Findlay, Ohio. The Bulldogs also won their second-straight GLIAC North Division Championship this campaign and concluded the year with a 24-7 overall record. FSU's 24 victories this campaign represented the third-most wins in school history.

The Ferris State softball team finished the 2005 season at 31-20-0 overall, which represented its best campaign since 2000 (33-18-0) and the sixth 30 or more win season in the program's 33-year history. The Bulldogs won this year's GLIAC Tournament title and in the process gained a share of the conference's overall championship crown. FSU also made its fourth-ever NCAA Division II Regional appearance and its first since 1999.