Tejada named candidate for Senior CLASS Award
11/30/2018 2:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – For a third straight season, at least one Lehigh men's basketball student-athlete has been named a candidate for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award, the most recent being Lance Tejada, who was one of 30 individuals nation-wide named a candidate on Friday. 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. Lehigh and Gonzaga are the only two men's basketball programs to have a candidate in each of the last three years while the Mountain Hawks four candidates since 2016-17 are No. 1 in the nation.
The award focuses on four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Tejada is one of just two honorees from the Patriot League, along with Kimbal Mackenzie of Bucknell. Last season, Kahron Ross was named a candidate while Tim Kempton and Austin Price were candidates in 2016-17. Prior to that, C.J. McCollum and Gabe Knutson were named candidates in 2012-13 and Marquis Hall in 2009-10. Hall, McCollum and Kempton all went on to be named finalists.
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Tejada is a sociology major at a prestigious institution. Lehigh University is currently tied for 46th nationally in the U.S. News and World Report top national universities. Tejada has garnered academic recognition in his career, which includes the Faculty Athletics Council Award for a semester GPA over 3.2.
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Tejada is looked up to by his teammates due to many attributes. As an East Carolina transfer, he has made a seamless transition to Lehigh men's basketball, quickly engraining himself amongst his teammates and becoming an All-Patriot League performer. Tejada has taken part in the Lehigh Athletics Leadership Academy (now called Flight 45), which sophomore and junior student-athletes about how to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates and gain the credibility to lead their teams vocally while actively supporting the efforts of current team captains.
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Tejada and Lehigh men's basketball always has a strong presence in the local community. Most recently, this fall (Oct. 21), Tejada and his teammates spent a Sunday morning cleaning the south side of Bethlehem. The following day, the Mountain Hawks visited Northeast Middle School in Bethlehem as part of the NABC Stay in to Win program, encouraging the youngsters to stay in school and graduate.
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In the past, Tejada and the Mountain Hawks traveled to local Donegan Elementary School for the Reading Rocks program. A different Lehigh Athletics team each week spent approximately one hour with the students, helping them read before playing games and other activities with the youngsters. In addition, Lehigh men's basketball, along with every Lehigh Athletics team, also takes part in Adopt-A-Family where the Mountain Hawks provide a holiday for a local underprivileged family. The process included shopping for gifts, wrapping and delivering them to the families in early December. Including Lehigh fraternities, sororities and other departments, the event itself has raised up to $30,000 annually.
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On the court, Tejada made an immediate impact from day one at Lehigh. Tejada could only practice during the 2015-16 season due to transfer rules, but helped make his teammates better in practice as the Mountain Hawks advanced to their second straight Patriot League Championship game. Then, in his first season playing in games for Lehigh, Tejada led the team in scoring in 2017-18 (14.7 points per game), which was also good for ninth in the Patriot League. Tejada finished 10th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (45.3) and 54th in three-point field goals per game (2.85). He was named a second team All-Patriot League honoree following the season and preseason All-League before this, his senior campaign.
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Among Tejada's standout performances came at Virginia when he scored a game-high 22 points against the nation's No. 1 defense. Tejada shot 8-of-14 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from three-point range against the nation's No. 1 defense. The 22 points were the most against the UVA defense since Jayson Tatum of Duke (currently of the Boston Celtics) the previous February. Tejada's 22 points ended up being tied for the sixth most points scored by any player against UVA last season.
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So far this year, Tejada is averaging 9.3 points per game, along with 3.5 assists. He scored 19 points in a homecoming game at Miami before following with 16 points against Marist and 15 vs. Princeton.
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The men's and women's candidates will be narrowed to two fields of 10 finalists in February, and those 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 C's of community, classroom, character and competition.
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The Mountain Hawks return to action on Saturday, Dec. 1, when they host Arkansas State at 2 p.m. in Stabler Arena. Tickets are available online and may be purchased by clicking here. Saturday will feature a Toys for Tots Drive as fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy will receive $1 admission into the game.
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Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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The award focuses on four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Tejada is one of just two honorees from the Patriot League, along with Kimbal Mackenzie of Bucknell. Last season, Kahron Ross was named a candidate while Tim Kempton and Austin Price were candidates in 2016-17. Prior to that, C.J. McCollum and Gabe Knutson were named candidates in 2012-13 and Marquis Hall in 2009-10. Hall, McCollum and Kempton all went on to be named finalists.
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Tejada is a sociology major at a prestigious institution. Lehigh University is currently tied for 46th nationally in the U.S. News and World Report top national universities. Tejada has garnered academic recognition in his career, which includes the Faculty Athletics Council Award for a semester GPA over 3.2.
Â
Tejada is looked up to by his teammates due to many attributes. As an East Carolina transfer, he has made a seamless transition to Lehigh men's basketball, quickly engraining himself amongst his teammates and becoming an All-Patriot League performer. Tejada has taken part in the Lehigh Athletics Leadership Academy (now called Flight 45), which sophomore and junior student-athletes about how to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates and gain the credibility to lead their teams vocally while actively supporting the efforts of current team captains.
Â
Tejada and Lehigh men's basketball always has a strong presence in the local community. Most recently, this fall (Oct. 21), Tejada and his teammates spent a Sunday morning cleaning the south side of Bethlehem. The following day, the Mountain Hawks visited Northeast Middle School in Bethlehem as part of the NABC Stay in to Win program, encouraging the youngsters to stay in school and graduate.
Â
In the past, Tejada and the Mountain Hawks traveled to local Donegan Elementary School for the Reading Rocks program. A different Lehigh Athletics team each week spent approximately one hour with the students, helping them read before playing games and other activities with the youngsters. In addition, Lehigh men's basketball, along with every Lehigh Athletics team, also takes part in Adopt-A-Family where the Mountain Hawks provide a holiday for a local underprivileged family. The process included shopping for gifts, wrapping and delivering them to the families in early December. Including Lehigh fraternities, sororities and other departments, the event itself has raised up to $30,000 annually.
Â
On the court, Tejada made an immediate impact from day one at Lehigh. Tejada could only practice during the 2015-16 season due to transfer rules, but helped make his teammates better in practice as the Mountain Hawks advanced to their second straight Patriot League Championship game. Then, in his first season playing in games for Lehigh, Tejada led the team in scoring in 2017-18 (14.7 points per game), which was also good for ninth in the Patriot League. Tejada finished 10th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (45.3) and 54th in three-point field goals per game (2.85). He was named a second team All-Patriot League honoree following the season and preseason All-League before this, his senior campaign.
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Among Tejada's standout performances came at Virginia when he scored a game-high 22 points against the nation's No. 1 defense. Tejada shot 8-of-14 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from three-point range against the nation's No. 1 defense. The 22 points were the most against the UVA defense since Jayson Tatum of Duke (currently of the Boston Celtics) the previous February. Tejada's 22 points ended up being tied for the sixth most points scored by any player against UVA last season.
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So far this year, Tejada is averaging 9.3 points per game, along with 3.5 assists. He scored 19 points in a homecoming game at Miami before following with 16 points against Marist and 15 vs. Princeton.
Â
The men's and women's candidates will be narrowed to two fields of 10 finalists in February, and those 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 C's of community, classroom, character and competition.
Â
The Mountain Hawks return to action on Saturday, Dec. 1, when they host Arkansas State at 2 p.m. in Stabler Arena. Tickets are available online and may be purchased by clicking here. Saturday will feature a Toys for Tots Drive as fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy will receive $1 admission into the game.
Â
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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