April 6, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior football player Moe Brown and senior women’s golfer Benedicte Toumpsin were named the university’s recipients of the Brad Davis SEC Community Service Award, the league office announced.

Brown, a native of Anderson, S.C., and Toumpsin, who hails from Sombreffe, Belgium, will each receive a $3,000 post-graduate scholarship as the university’s recipients of the award. A total of 24 student-athletes – one male and one female from each of the Southeastern Conference’s 12 member institutions – were named recipients of the 2010 Brad Davis SEC Community Service Award.

Brown has been the football team’s representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for three years,and has been a visible member of the organization’s community service efforts. In his four years as a Gamecock, Brown mentored students at New Providence Elementary School, participated in the Red Ribbon Week effort at another elementary school and volunteered time with the Boy Scouts. He also visited with local children and their families who were affected by cancer at the Children’s Chance Dinner and spent time with children from broken homes at the Epworth Children’s Home.

On the field, Brown played in 49 games in his four-year Carolina career, making 22 starts. One of four captains of the 2009 Gamecocks, Brown was the team’s second-leading receiver this past season, catching 33 passes for 491 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed five times for 105 yards. He finished his Gamecock career with 85 catches for 1,124 yards, which ranks him in the school’s all-time top 20 in both categories.

Toumpsin has also been a member of the South Carolina SAAC as the social chair, responsible for planning and organizing events for the Gamecock student-athletes. She has volunteered her time at the Carolina-Clemson Blood Drive the last two years as well as helping out with the Junior Gamecock Club Back-to-School Bash. She read to students at George I. Pair Elementary School while intimating the value of education, and she also helped expose inner-city youth to the game of golf as a volunteer for the First Tee of Columbia.

Toumpsin will likely complete her South Carolina career with the second-lowest stroke average in school history; that number currently stands at 74.67. In 38 career tournaments, Toumpsin has earned a top-five finish on eight occasions, and she has 16 top-20 finishes. She was the individual medalist at the 2008 NCAA East Regional and also tied for medalist honors at the 2009 LSU Golf Classic. The runner-up at the 2009 SEC Championship, Toumpsin has played 112 career rounds, posting scores at par or better 25 times.

Two student-athletes earned $6,000 scholarships as the Brad Davis SEC Community Service Leaders of the Year. This year, Georgia track athlete John Egan and Auburn gymnast Krissy Voss were the recipients of the full award.

The award, which recognizes student-athletes for their commitment to service, leadership qualities, academic achievement and athletic participation, is named for former SEC associate commissioner Brad Davis, who succumbed to cancer on March 2, 2006. He had been a member of the SEC staff since 1988, first serving as an assistant commissioner until 1994 when he was promoted to associate commissioner.