OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - IUPUI senior men's soccer standout Perez Agaba has been named a finalist for the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in collegiate soccer. 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.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s 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.
 
This summer, Agaba became the third IUPUI student-athlete in school history to earn The Summit League Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. Entering his senior year, Agaba has a 4.0 cumulative grade point average while majoring in biomedical engineering and minoring in pre-med/mathematics. He was named to the ESPN Academic All-America First Team by CoSIDA last season and has earned three straight Academic All-Summit League awards. He's twice been named to The Summit League's Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence since coming to IUPUI.

"It couldn't happen to a better person," IUPUI Head Coach Isang Jacob said. "His commitment to community service is incomparable. Having worked with a kid who's won it before in Jason Yeisley, it's like they're a pair. They both their academics very seriously and are both truly committed to serving.

"Last fall, Perez worked two jobs while playing soccer and was still able to maintain such a high GPA. And he did it without complaining at all. He's been a great influence on our freshmen coming in and has volunteered to mentor them. His desire to serve those around him is incredible. And, in spite of it all, he stays humble."

Since 2010, he's earned three scholarships for academic and extracurriculars including the 2010 Bepko Scholarship, 2010 ProAAct Scholarship and most recently, the 2011 IUPUI Michael A. Carroll Scholarship. Academically, he's been named to the School of Engineering & Technology Dean's List all three years and serves as a peer mentor and tutor in both math and chemistry. He's also a youth mentor at Harshman Elementary School in Indianapolis and has volunteered with the Urban Soccer Development Program, Project Lead the Way and the National Robotics Competition.

On the field, the 5-foot-10 forward was a 2010 NSCAA/Performance Subaru Second Team All-Midwest Region pick and earned Second Team All-Summit League honors this past season. He's twice been pegged to The Summit League All-Tournament Team and was on the 2008 Summit League All-Newcomer Team. He has 11 career goals and six assists in 54 games and tallied five game-winners in three seasons. He's been among the top five in The Summit in game-winners in each of the past two seasons.

This summer he completed an internship at Yale University and intends on attending medical school after completing his undergraduate studies. He later hopes to practice medicine in the U.S. before eventually returning to Uganda to establish medical clinics in hopes of bettering the quality of life in his homeland.

He becomes the second IUPUI player in three seasons to be a finalist for the award, joining Eric Weigman who was Second Team All-American in 2009.

The 30-member candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season and those 10 names will be advanced on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans who will select one male and one female candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. 

For more information on all the candidates, go to www.seniorclassaward.com.
 
The full list of 2011 candidates is as follows: