June 24, 2009

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Bryan Mullins of Southern Illinois University and Brooke Demo of Wichita State University have been selected as the male and female recipients, respectively, of the Missouri Valley Conference's Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award, Valley Commissioner Doug Elgin has announced. The Missouri Valley Conference Faculty Athletics Representatives Committee selected Demo and Mullins from a field of league student-athletes who met the Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award criteria, including academic achievement, athletics excellence and service and leadership.

 Mullins, a native of Downers Grove, Illinois, graduated from Southern Illinois University with a bachelor's degree in finance and a perfect cumulative 4.0 grade point average. He was awarded spots on the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Teams three times, earning first-team honors twice. Mullins also received recognition as the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week and garnered the prestigious 2009 MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. Mullins was a two-time ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American, awarded second-team honors in 2008 and recently named to the 2009 first team. Included on the SIU Academic Dean's List every semester enrolled, Mullins was also named to the Missouri Valley Conference Honor Roll from 2006-2009, and the Commissioner's Academic Excellence list in 2007, 2008, and 2009. In 2009, he was recognized with the league's highest academic achievement earning the Missouri Valley Conference President's Council Academic Award.

 A guard on SIU's men's basketball team, he helped lead the Salukis to two NCAA Tournament appearances (2007 Sweet Sixteen), one NIT appearance, and two Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Despite being sidelined for the 2007-2008 postseason and the majority of 2008-2009 conference play with injuries, Mullins became the second player in league history to record 500 career assists and 250 career steals. Earning the MVC Freshman of the Year honors in 2007, he went on to back-to-back MVC Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2008 and 2009. Mullins was also named as the 2009 SIU team captain and MVP.

  Demo is an El Dorado, Kan., native and achieved a cumulative 3.80 grade point average while majoring in mathematics education. A three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete selection, she earned honorable mention in 2005, and first team honors in both 2006 and 2007. Named in 2006 as a CoSIDA Academic All-District VII honorable mention award recipient, she went on to be recognized with first team honors in 2007. Demo was appointed to the Wichita State AD's Honor Roll for nine semesters, Dean's Honor Roll from 2004-2007, and the Dean's Dozen List in 2007. She was also named three times to the Missouri Valley Conference Honor Roll and twice to the Commissioner's Academic Excellence list.

 A pole vaulter for the Shocker women's indoor and outdoor track and field teams, she served as team captain for two years. Demo was a member of two league indoor championship teams and three conference outdoor championship teams. She placed in the top three spots at seven MVC championships and garnered All-Missouri Valley Conference indoor recognition in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009, with outdoor honors in 2005, 2008, and 2009. Demo was an indoor NCAA Provisional Qualifier in 2007 and 2009, and a four-time outdoor NCAA Regional Qualifier advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Nationals twice.

 Demo served as a Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) member from 2007-2009 and as vice president in 2008. She has been active in community service at Wichita State participating in the State Farm/Missouri Valley Conference "Just Read", Adopt-A-Family Christmas, Rock with The Shocks Character Education, and Pen-Pal programs. Demo also volunteered her time leading Shocker Pole Vault Camps. Currently working on her postgraduate degree in sports management, she plans on coaching track and field at the collegiate level.

The first-ever recipient of the Honda Award of Merit in 1996 for outstanding achievement in women's collegiate athletics, Dr. Charlotte West was a driving force for more than 40 years in the area of advancement of women's sports.

 On June 30, 1998, she retired from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, after serving in the capacities of head coach, associate athletics director, interim athletics director and senior woman administrator during her 41 years with the Missouri Valley Conference-member institution. West coached five women's sports from 1957-75 and, in 1982, was among the first group of women inducted into the SIUC Athletics Hall of Fame.

 During her tenure at SIUC, she became the first female member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and later served on the organization's board of directors. West was also a president of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). In 1991, she was presented with the Administrator of the Year Award by the National Association of Collegiate Women Administrators. West also received the Administrator of the Year Award, given by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.