OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Western Michigan men's basketball senior guard
Thomas Wilder has been named as one of 30 candidates for the 2017-18 Senior CLASS award, an honor given annually to a men's basketball student-athlete who excels both on and off the court.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievement in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Wilder has had major success on the court during his time at WMU ranking in the top ten in career points, field goals made, field goals attempted, three's made, free-throws made, free-throws attempted, assists and steals.
Off the court, Wilder has participated in multiple community service projects in the Kalamazoo area while also excelling in the classroom as a sports management major.
An acronym for the Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Among the 60 candidates, all are in excellent academic standing with 14 having grade-point averages of 3.5 or higher. Eight of this year's candidates were 2016-17 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-Americans®, and seven returned to the court this season after receiving All-America honors for their performances a year ago. Each of the candidates also volunteers his or her time with charitable organizations and causes while upholding a reputation for positive character on campus and in the community.
Each of the 30 candidate classes will be narrowed to fields of 10 finalists in February, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four® and NCAA Women's Final Four® this spring. For more information on each of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
2017-18 Senior CLASS Award Candidates
Thomas Wilder, Western Michigan
Grayson Allen, Duke
Shawn Anderson, Navy
Braian Angola, Florida State
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
Trevon Bluiett, Xavier
Vladimir Brodziansky, TCU
Jevon Carter, West Virginia
Gary Clark, Cincinnati
Angel Delgado, Seton Hall
Ben Emelogu II, SMU
Marcus Foster, Creighton
Rob Gray, Houston
Rokas Gustys, Hofstra
A.J. Jacobson, North Dakota State
Justin Johnson, Western Kentucky
Kodi Justice, Arizona State
Marcus Lee, California
Yante Maten, Georgia
Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern
Jordan McLaughlin, USC
Luke Morrison, Army
Cameron Morse, Youngstown State
Albert Owens, Oral Roberts
Wesley Person, Troy
Kahron Ross, Lehigh
Gerdarius Troutman, Florida Atlantic
Kevin Vannatta, UNC Asheville
Mitchell Wilbekin, Wake Forest
Johnathan Williams, Gonzaga
