Kempton and Price named candidates for Senior CLASS Award
1/6/2017 12:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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Complete Senior CLASS Release
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh men's basketball seniors Tim Kempton and Austin Price have each been named candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award, as announced late Thursday. In total, 30 men's basketball candidates were named with Lehigh and Wisconsin as the only two schools with two honorees. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the 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.Â
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The award focuses on four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The only two from the Patriot League named candidates, Kempton and Price are Lehigh men's basketball's first honorees since 2012-13 when both C.J. McCollum and Gabe Knutson were named candidates. McCollum went on to be named a finalist and a first team Senior CLASS All-American. Marquis Hall was a finalist in 2009-10.
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Kempton has enjoyed success in the classroom at a challenging institution as Lehigh University was recently named the 37th best college in all of America by Business Insider and has been recognized among the top schools in the countries by several other media outlets. An economics major, he was named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll as a freshman for a spring semester GPA over 3.2. He was also named to the Faculty Athletics Council Award on multiple occasions for a semester GPA over 3.2.
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Kempton is looked up to by teammates and others within Lehigh Athletics as a strong leader. He was a team co-captain last season as a junior. Despite a tough start last season, Kempton helped keep the Mountain Hawks together and the team responded by winning a school-record tying 11 straight games from Feb. 3 through Mar. 6 and advancing to the Patriot League Championship Game.
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Kempton is also part of the Lehigh Athletics Leadership Academy. He has taken part in the P.R.I.D.E. program, which stands for Personal Responsibility in Determining Excellence. Kempton attended weekly workshops, learning how to consistently navigate college athletically - academically and socially. He also took part in the Emerging Leaders cohort where he was trained to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates and gain the credibility to lead vocally in order to maximize individual and team performance. Kempton has taken part in Leadership Legacies as well, an extended program in the application of emotionally intelligent leadership and the navigation of team leadership challenges in partnership with their coaches.
Tim Kempton
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In the community, Kempton visited a nearby elementary school in Phillipsburg, New Jersey last spring to speak about careers and future goals. Kempton and the Lehigh men's basketball program have visited numerous local schools as part of the NABC Stay In To Win program, a program which sees college coaches and players join together with middle and high school teachers and administrators to motivate and encourage students to stay in school and graduate. Kempton has spoken at many assemblies about the importance of an education. The Mountain Hawks have also visited various other elementary and middle schools.
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Kempton is a two-time Patriot League Player of the Year and honorable mention All-American, who currently stands eighth in school history and 12th in Patriot League history with 1,680 career points. He is also the nation's current active leader in rebounds with 907. One of the premier big men in the country, he was one of just 20 student-athletes nation-wide named to the watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year. Kempton impressed from day one at Lehigh and has continued to take his game to the next level. As a freshman, he averaged 13.0 points and 7.1 rebounds to earn Patriot League Rookie of the Year laurels. He went on to average 15.3 points and 8.7 boards as a sophomore then 17.7 points and 9.5 rebounds as a junior. So far this season, Kempton is averaging 20.7 points and 10.4 rebounds, both among the nation's best. Kempton posted 13 double-doubles last season, good for 47th nationally, and already has eight this season.
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Kempton joined former standouts C.J. McCollum (Lehigh) and Adonal Foyle (Colgate) as the only players in league history to earn two Player of the Year awards before their senior seasons. Both McCollum and Foyle went onto the NBA.
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Austin Price
Meanwhile, Price has impressed in the classroom, as a finance major. Lehigh was ranked in a June 10, 2016 USA Today article as the sixth top college for a degree in finance. Price was named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll following his freshman season and has garnered the Faculty Athletics Council Award as well. Both awards recognize a semester GPA of 3.2 or higher. Price has relevant experience in his major as well. This past summer, he worked at Incrediplex, the largest sports facility in the Midwest, near his hometown in Indianapolis. Price analyzed financials to see if the company would be able to go ahead with certain projects. He also looked at whether or not they should continue their summer camps. Price analyzed the company's financials and the risks involved, helping give the green light on certain projects and taking away other projects.
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Price has taken part in the Lehigh Athletics Leadership Development Program, specifically, Emerging Leaders. He is also a member of Student-Athlete Council, a group of student-athlete leaders representing a diverse constituency, voluntarily committed to enhancing the student-athlete experience through leadership, service and community.
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As ambassador for his fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi, Price's role is to make sure that campus relations between students and faculty is strong. He handles things like keeping track of the chapter's money, keeping track of events and making sure to attend events of other organizations. He is also in charge of recruiting. Price is part of Greek Emerging Leaders as well, focusing on social climate for Greek Life. In the program, they talk about how the culture at Lehigh can be improved and what can be done as leaders to make sure members produce a good image, make sure the culture is safe and make sure people are doing the right things.
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Price has made a difference in the community through both Lehigh Athletics and his fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. His fraternity tutored at a local school, while also helping out at Spooktacular, an event which involves arts and crafts and the spirit of Halloween. Through the fraternity, Price has also talked to youngsters at elementary schools about how to get to college and stay on the right track.
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Along with taking part in the NABC Stay In To Win program, Lehigh Athletics has two other key community programs, which both Kempton and Price are heavily involved in. Every year, the Mountain Hawks head to local Donegan Elementary School for the Reading Rocks program. A different Lehigh Athletics team each week spends approximately one hour with the students, helping them read before playing games and other activities with the youngsters. Lehigh men's basketball, along with every Lehigh Athletics team, also take part in Adopt-A-Family where the Mountain Hawks provided a holiday for a local underprivileged family. The process included shopping for gifts, wrapping and delivering them to the families in early December. Â
On the court, Price currently owns exactly 1,200 career points, which is 22nd in school history. Price was named a Patriot League All-Rookie Team member as a freshman, recording 8.4 points per game. His scoring average increased to 11.4 as a sophomore then 13.0 as a junior, which was second on the team. Price was named a third team All-Patriot League honoree last season. He has been a prolific three-point shooter, knocking down 38.5 percent of his treys last season, good for 11th in the Patriot League. Price is shooting a career-high 41.0 percent so far this season (32-of-78) and has shot 38.7 percent for his career (198-of-511).
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Price has enjoyed a number of stellar performances in his career, eclipsing 20 points in nine career games, including six games as a junior. He posted a career-high 28 points and career-high eight rebounds against Colgate last season. During the 2014-15 season opener, Price scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting against a Villanova team that went on to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
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Each of the 30 candidate classes will be narrowed to fields of 10 finalists in February, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
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The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four® and NCAA Women's Final Four® this spring. For more information on each of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
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Kempton and Price return to action on Sunday when they host American at 2 p.m. Tickets are available and can be purchased online by clicking here.
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