Student Athletes and Athletic Director are Top Tier
Ohio State
Athletic Director Gene Smith was one of four athletic directors nominated for
Athletic Director of the Year while Ohio
State student athletes
led the Big Ten with 134 students on the Big Ten All-Academic Team.
By Eric Geier
The
Sports Business Journal announced the nominees for their first annual Athletic
Director of the Year Awards. Ohio
State’s Gene Smith was
one of four nominees announced for the award. Other athletic directors
nominated include Jeff Hathaway from UCONN, Ron Wellman from Wake Forest
and Lew Perkins from Smith has been praised by the public and his peers ever
since he took office in 2005. Gene Smith replaced Andy Geiger six months after
Geiger announced his retirement on January 5th, 2005. Gene Smith plans tocontinue the tradition of
excellence that has forever accompanied Ohio State Athletics.
Of
the 11 Big Ten schools, Ohio
State led the way with
134 students on the Big Ten All-Academic team for the spring season. The men’s
lacrosse team topped the list with 16 players to be nominated followed closely
by men’s track and field, a team that includes Chimdi Chekwa and Brian
Robiskie. In order to be eligible a player
must be a second year player as well as a letter winner while also having a 3.0
grade point average or better.