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Trustee Jay Hendrickson ’71 and his wife, Amy ’69, of Raleigh, N.C., are among the 12 recipients of the 2009 Southern Conference Distinguished Service Award. The SoCon award recognizes individuals from its member institutions who have contributed to all aspects of the university.

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ's men's basketball, women's cross country, women's golf, softball and volleyball teams are among the top teams in the nation in the 2009 NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, which were announced April 22. The ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ teams rank in the top 10 percent of NCAA Division I teams in the nation in their sports.

Matt Matheny, a 16-year veteran assistant basketball coach at Davidson College, has been selected to lead ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ's men's basketball program. He was introduced as the 17th head men's basketball coach in ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ history at a March 29 news conference, vowing his goal is to ensure the academic success of the players and at the same time propel ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ to a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament.

Thirty-five ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ student-athletes received academic all-conference recognition by the Southern Conference during the fall season. ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ ranked #2 among the 12 SoCon schools in the number of athletes earning recognition. To be eligible, a student-athlete must possess at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average entering the fall season and must have competed in at least one-half of their team’s competitions during the recently-concluded fall campaign.

USA Baseball has announced that the 2009 USA Baseball National Team (Collegiate) coaching staff will include ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Phoenix skipper Mike Kennedy. Former ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ head coach Rick Jones is the head coach for the 2009 squad.