Courtesy of LehighSports.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Adding another honor to his resume, standout Tim Kempton has been named a finalist for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award®, as announced on Wednesday. Kempton is one of just 10 men’s basketball student-athletes in the nation named a finalist. He is the Lehigh men’s basketball program’s first finalist since C.J. McCollum in 2013. Marquis Hall was also named a finalist just three years earlier in 2010. . To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as NCAA Division I seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
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 athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Over the last eight years, six Mountain Hawks have been named candidates and three have been named finalists. Along with Kempton, McCollum and Hall, senior Austin Price was also named a candidate this season while Corey Schaefer was in 2015 and Gabe Knutson in 2013.
The finalists were chosen by national media from the list of 30 men’s candidates and 30 women’s candidates announced in January. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through March 20. Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winners. The Senior CLASS Award recipients will be announced during the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four® and NCAA Women’s Final Four®.
Kempton has continued to excel on the court, recently being named one of 10 finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award.
The two-time Patriot League Player of the Year and honorable mention All-American currently stands fourth in school history and seventh in Patriot League history with 1,889 career points. He is also the nation’s current active leader in rebounds with 1,015, a school record which he set last time out at Holy Cross.
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. Last season, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kempton and the Mountain Hawks are home on Wednesday night when they host Navy at 7 p.m. Tickets are available and can be purchased online by clicking here. Following Wednesday’s game, Lehigh heads to archrival Lafayette on Sunday for its final road game of the regular season. Opening tipoff is set for 12 p.m.
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Men’s Basketball Finalists
Jaron Blossomgame, Clemson
Evan Bradds, Belmont
Josh Hart, Villanova
Josh Hawkinson, Washington State
Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin
Amile Jefferson, Duke
Peter Jok, Iowa
Przemek Karnowski, Gonzaga
Tim Kempton, Lehigh
Frank Mason III, Kansas
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