March 6, 2008

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Saluki junior guard Bryan Mullins was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete team, the league announced Thursday, while teammate Matt Shaw was an honorable mention selection.

Mullins had already earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American honors last week.

Drake guard Adam Emmenecker headlined the 16-man scholar-athlete team, earning the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

The criteria for the Missouri Valley Conference's Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.00 cumulative grade-point average (4.0 scale). Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.

2008 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE FIRST TEAM
Jeremy Crouch, Bradley Sr. 3.12 Secondary Education Pekin (Ill.) High
+Adam Emmenecker, Drake Sr. 3.97 Finance, Business, Mgt., Entrepreneurial Mgt. Saginaw (Mich.) Arthur Hill High
^Jason Holsinger, Evansville Jr. 3.86 Social Studies/Economics Lapel (Ind.) High
#Bryan Mullins, S. Illinois Jr. 4.00 Finance Downers Grove (Ill.) High
Josh Young, Drake So. 3.05 Marketing/Management Lawton (Okla.) High

2008 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE SECOND TEAM
Adam Arnold, Indiana State Jr. 3.66 Chemistry Decatur (Ill.) Belmont
Matt Braeuer, Wichita State Sr. 3.26 Sports Administration Belton (Texas) High
Brent Heemskerk, Drake Jr. 3.67 Business Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian High
Pierce Hibma, Creighton Sr. 3.630 Theology/Pre-Med Pella (Iowa) High
Adam Koch, UNI So. 3.53 Biomedical Ashwaubenon (Wis.) High
Klayton Korver, Drake Sr. 3.11 Marketing/Management Pella (Iowa) High
Phillip Thomasson, WSU Sr. 3.25 Marketing/Real Estate Burlison (Texas) High

2008 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE HONORABLE MENTION TEAM
Jonathan Cox, Drake (3.05 Finance); Matt Shaw, Southern Illinois (3.05 History); Jay Tunnell, Indiana State (3.01 Finance); Mike Vandello, Illinois State (4.00 Biological Sciences).

# - denotes 2008 CoSIDA academic all-district selection
+ - denotes 2008 CoSIDA academic All-America (1st Team)
^ - denotes 2008 CoSIDA academic All-America (2nd Team)