Tulane Honors Student-Athletes at 2008 Athletic Banquet
Apr 29, 2008 | General
April 29, 2008
NEW ORLEANS - Tulane University star student-athletes Matt Forté and Gloria Asumnu were named the Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year, as the athletic department honored its 2007-08 student-athletes at the annual athletic banquet held at the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life on Sunday night.
The athletic awards banquet was a joint effort between Tulane athletics staff and the department's Student-Athlete Advisory Council, which is composed of 20 current Green Wave student-athletes.
Five of Tulane's six head coaches - the baseball team was returning home from a series at Memphis - awarded team honors and discussed their respective seasons, and the 2007-08 senior class was also honored for their contributions both on and off the playing field during their careers as Green Wave student-athletes.
Former Green Wave quarterback Shaun King, who led Tulane to an undefeated 12-0 season in 1998, was the night's keynote speaker. King was a four-year letterman and starter for the Green Wave from 1995-98, was a two-time Conference USA Player of the Year in 1997 and 1998 and was selected to the Conference USA All-Decade Team in 2005.
King played in the 1999 senior bowl and was drafted by his hometown team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in the second round of the 1999 NFL draft. He spent eight years in the NFL and was a member of Tampa Bay's Super Bowl XXXVII championship team. King was enshrined in the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004, and is currently a football analyst for ESPN's First Take.
Tulane also presented the Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year in addition to the Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year.
The Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year is awarded to the male and female student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point average after at least three semesters at Tulane University, while the Male and Female Student-Athlete award was based on performance.
The 2008 recipient for Female Scholar Athlete of the Year was junior volleyball athlete Ashley Bernards. Bernards, a finance major and defensive specialist from McMinnville, Ore., boasts a current GPA of 3.964, but carried a 4.0 GPA through her first 50 credits of college and has never received a grade lower than an A-. Bernards has been named to the ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-America Team and the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, and is a C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal award winner.
Bernards is a repeat-winner of the Tulane Scholar-Athlete of the Year, earning the award last year with a 3.958 GPA. She appeared in 10 games in 2007, with a pair of eight-dig matches and posted three service aces. She will return to the volleyball team in the fall of 2008 while working on master's degree in accounting, as she will receive a bachelor's of science in Finance in May after just three years.
Redshirt-freshman baseball athlete Hunter Johnson was the 2008 recipient for Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. A finance major and pitcher from Bellaire, Texas, Johnson sports a current GPA of 3.650 He was a member of the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and Tulane's 3.0 Club last year.
Hunter Johnson has not played this season due to an arm injury, but is an integral part of the team. He has served as a scout filmer and helps keep pitching charts both for the Tulane hurlers as well as the opponents. As a true freshman in 2007, he appeared in two games in relief, allowing one run on two hits in 1.0 inning of work.
The female athlete of the year was senior track and field All-American Gloria Asumnu. A native of Houston, Texas, Gloria Asumnu completed her Tulane career as a four-time All-American - in the indoor 60-meter dash (twice), and the outdoor 100- and 200-meter dashes - and holds six school records and one Conference USA record. She won eight individual C-USA championships, and became the first student-athlete in conference history to win four championships in a single event when she won the 60-meter dash in March. She was named C-USA Indoor Performer of the Meet two years in a row.
The Male Athlete of the Year was senior football athlete Matt Forte, who is a finance major from nearby Slidell, La. Matt Forté set Tulane's single-season records with 2,127 yards, which ranks as the seventh-best rushing effort in NCAA history. He also notched 23 touchdowns on 361 carries while ranking second on the team with 32 receptions for another 282 yards through the air. His rushing total and 177.2 rushing yards per game average ranks second in the NCAA, and he also ranked second nationally in scoring with 11.7 points per game.
Forté became the first Green Wave football player in five years to earn All-America honors with his selection to four different teams by various publications. He was not only selected to the Under Armour Senior Bowl, but claimed MVP honors after rushing for a game-high 59 yards and tallying 38 yards receiving and leading the South team to a 17-16 victory over the North squad.
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