April 18, 2002
Columbia, S.C. – University of South Carolina senior baseball player and Columbia native Trey Dyson has been named the recipient of the 2001-2002 H. Boyd McWhorter Southeastern Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. With the award, Dyson will receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship provided by the ALLTEL Corporation.
A senior on this season’s fourth-ranked baseball team, Dyson is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll Member and a USC Dean’s List and President’s List member. Dyson maintains a 3.74 GPA as a finance major.
“I’m very blessed and honored to receive this award,” said Dyson, a graduate of Spring Valley HS in Columbia. “I want to thank the coaching staff, teammates, family, the USC faculty and God for providing me encouragement and guidance. I’ve taken my competitiveness on the field to the classroom and I believe that has helped me obtain goals that I have set.”
Dyson is currently the starting designated hitter for USC and is second on the Gamecocks in runs batted in with 33 and tied for second in home runs with nine. Over his four-year career, Dyson has batted .288 with 24 home runs and 124 RBI.
“Trey Dyson is the type of student-athlete that makes me want to coach forever,” said USC head baseball coach Ray Tanner. “I’m proud of him and honored to have had the opportunity to coach him at the University of South Carolina.”
Dyson has volunteered his time to various elementary schools and hospitals in the Columbia area. Since 1998, he has served as a volunteer at the Center for Knowledge School, reading to children, tutoring and speaking at school assemblies. He has been a part of free baseball clinics for local underprivileged youth, has read to children at Keels Elementary School and has worked as a volunteer at Palmetto Richland Children’s Hospital. Dyson has also assisted with Coach Ray Tanner’s Youth Baseball Camps during holiday breaks.
South Carolina women’s soccer player Jessica Ward was a finalist for the Female Student Athlete of the Year and will receive a $5,000 scholarship for post-graduate studies. Ward is also a native of Columbia and a graduate of Spring Valley HS. Each SEC school had one male and female finalist nominated for the award. University of Arkansas softball player Tiffany Woolley was the Female Scholar Athlete of the Year award winner.
The award will be presented to the two winners in June at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla. Dyson is the third top winner from South Carolina since the inception of the award in 1986. Former men’s soccer player Peter Duitsman earned the honor in 1994 and former volleyball player Shani Abshier was the top winner in 1997.
