March 16, 2004

Cleveland, Ohio - Ten finalists for the fifth annual John McLendon Memorial Minority Postgraduate Scholarship Awards were announced today by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

They will now be reviewed by the Blue Ribbon Committee, which will select the final five winners who will each receive a $10,000 grant to be used toward postgraduate studies. Funding for the scholarship program has been provided in part by adidas America, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), National Basketball Association (NBA), Eddie Robinson Foundation, Host Communications, Inc., Sears, Roebuck and Co., and NACDA.

Minorities who intend to pursue a postgraduate degree in athletics administration are eligible for these scholarships. Students were required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, have senior status and have demonstrated leadership qualities on an institutional or community level.

The finalists are:

Members of the John McLendon Memorial Minority Postgraduate Scholarship Awards Committee were responsible for selecting the finalists. Completing this task were Lee Reed, chair, director of athletics, Cleveland State; Al Avant, director of athletics, Chicago State; Rudy Carvajal, director of athletics, Cal State Bakersfield; Deborah Chin, director of athletics, New Haven; Rudy Davalos, director of athletics, New Mexico; Earl Edwards, director of athletics, UC San Diego; Herman Frazier, director of athletics, Hawaii; Mike Garrett, director of athletics, Southern California; Dan Guerrero, director of athletics, UCLA; Gene Marshall, director of athletics, Ramapo; Lee McElroy, director of athletics, Albany; Dell Robinson, associate commissioner for legislation and compliance, Mid-American Conference; Gene Smith, director of athletics, Arizona State; Dennis Thomas, commissioner, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference; Charlie Titus, director of athletics, Massachusetts Harbor; Robert Vowels, commissioner, Southwestern Athletic Conference; and Joyce Wong, director of athletics, Eastern Connecticut State.