Feb. 28, 2013

Columbia, S.C. – Senior first baseman LB Dantzler is one of 30 NCAA baseball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field to be selected as a candidate for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.

Dantzler is one of three team captains for the season. He leads the Gamecocks with a .542 batting average (13-for-24) with eight runs scored, three homers and 13 RBI.

Off the field, Dantzler has been named to the 2012 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll. He currently owns a cumulative GPA of 3.641. Since enrolling at South Carolina in the Fall of 2011, he has been named to the Dean’s List all three times (3.5 GPA or better). He has received a mark of an “A” in 27 of the 38 college courses he has taken.

Dantzler organized a “percent night” with the Carolina Ale House in which 10 percent of all proceeds made at the restaurant on November 27, 2012, would be donated to the Epworth Children’s home, an orphanage in Columbia, S.C., that helps care for underprivileged kids. He has recorded 50-plus community service hours for volunteering at the Epworth Children’s Home. In his time there, he helped build a life size nativity scene, refurbish the interior of a house on campus, and joined in the everyday clean up activities that take place at the orphanage. A member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Dantzler also worked with the United States Tennis Association as a competition intern in the summer of 2012 in which he helped organize many junior tennis tournaments around the state of South Carolina. While living in Florida, Dantzler spent time volunteering at the Humane Society once a week for about a year.

An acronym for 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.

The 2013 candidate class includes 15 candidates who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Five were named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American team, and four were All-Americans.

The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 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 finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA College World Series® in Omaha.

For more information on the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

Baseball Candidates
Mark Appel, Stanford
Shane Basen, Charlotte
Blake Beemer, Ball State
Brandon Boudreaux, Tulane
Chase Brookshire, Belmont
Joe Burg, Hofstra
Chase Byerly, Butler
Nick Camastro, Manhattan
Boomer Collins, Dallas Baptist
Johnny Coy, Wichita State
LB Dantzler, South Carolina
Jordan Enos, Holy Cross
Michael Felton, Campbell
Nick Ferraresi, Columbia
Mitch Garver, New Mexico
Sean Hagan, St. John’s
Reed Harper, Austin Peay
Mike Le Bel, Rhode Island
Carlos Lopez, Cal State Fullerton
Jeff Melillo, Rutgers
Alex Mendez, South Florida
Austin Montgomery, Southern Illinois
Matt Pare, Boston
Colton Plaia, Loyola Marymount
Raph Rhymes, LSU
Chris Rowley, Army
John Sheridan, Brown
John Straka, North Dakota State
Brandon Thomas, Georgia Tech
Greg Zebrack, Southern California

ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. Premier Sports Management owns and manages the award.

NCAA and its marks are licensed by or trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.