Butler's Graves, Cleveland State's Klein Recognized as U.S. Army Scholar-Athletes of the Week

Nov. 27, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS -

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Butler University senior A.J. Graves (men's basketball) and Cleveland State University sophomore Kailey Klein (women's basketball) have been named the U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athletes of the Week, League commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone announced Tuesday (Nov. 27).

Graves helped lead Butler to the championship of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout last weekend. He was named to the 10-player All-Tournament Team, as he scored 17 points in each of Butler's victories over Michigan and Virginia Tech, and 18 points in the championship win over Texas Tech. Graves added 12 assists and a team-high three steals in the tournament, while hitting 15 three-point field goals in the three games.

Graves maintains a 3.349 grade-point average as a math major. He was named a First-Team CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America in 2006-2007, and he also earned recognition as a member of the Horizon League All-Academic team, and the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll last year.

Klein helped the Vikings to a third-place finish in the women's edition of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout by averaging 25.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. She also shot 18-of-30 (.600) from the field and 11-of-13 from the free throw line. Klein opened the tournament with a career-high tying 33 points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in a loss to Alaska Anchorage. In the consolation game that followed, she scored 18 points, grabbed six boards, and made five assists in an 82-61 victory over Bradley. Klein was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts.

Academically, Klein sports a 3.52 grade-point average, and has not yet chosen a major.

The Horizon League instituted the U.S. Army Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards as a way to recognize outstanding academic and athletic achievement by its student-athletes. To be eligible for the honor, a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or better (on a 4.00 scale), have completed at least one year at the member institution and passed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours, and perform well during the week's competition. Winners are selected by a group of League faculty athletic representatives, from nominations provided by sports information directors.

OTHER MALE NOMINEES:

Tom Levin, Loyola (basketball, senior, 3.67, finance) handed out an assist in seven minutes of action in Loyola's 84-53 loss at Purdue on Saturday (Nov. 24).

Shawn Huff, Valparaiso (basketball, senior, 3.21, sociology/criminology) earned All-Tournament honors at the South Padre Island Invitational last weekend. He registered 18 points and a career-high nine rebounds against Vanderbilt, and scored seven straight points in the final three minutes of the Crusaders' victory over Austin Peay. Last week, Huff averaged 11.3 points per game, and 7.7 rebounds per game as Valpo went 2-1.

OTHER FEMALE NOMINEES:

Elyse VanBogaert, Loyola (basketball, sophomore, 3.76, undecided) posted 14 points and seven rebounds in Loyola's 55-53 loss to Chicago State on Tuesday (Nov. 20). She also tallied 16 points, five boards, three blocks and an assist in a 63-47 loss at Northwestern on Sunday (Nov. 25). For the two games last week, she averaged 15.0 points per game, 2.0 blocks per game, and 1.0 assist per game as she shot .556 from the field.

Laura Rolf, Valparaiso (cross country, junior, 3.40, new media-journalism) closed out her junior season with a 48th-place finish out of 253 runners at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, covering the course in 21:10.4, and cutting over 20 seconds off of her time from last year's championship race held on the same course. She posted the highest finish by any Horizon League female runner, finishing in the top-50 for the second consecutive year, and earning the Horizon League Athlete of the Year honor.

PREVIOUS U.S. ARMY SCHOLAR-ATHLETES:

Aug. 28,Nina Inic (Butler, volleyball)
Sept. 5,Ryan Miller (Green Bay, cross country); Liz Fazio (Cleveland State, volleyball)
Sept. 11,Chris Honig (Valparaiso, cross country); Katarina Hanackova (UIC, volleyball)
Sept. 18,Malcolm DeBaun (Loyola, soccer); Betty Slinger (Green Bay, volleyball)
Sept. 25,Markian Zyga (Loyola, soccer); Sara Hughes (Valparaiso, volleyball)
Oct. 2,Kent Wories (Butler, cross country); Ani Michl (Valparaiso, soccer)
Oct. 9,Zeke Dombrowski (Milwaukee, soccer); Lotte Rasmussen (Green Bay, soccer)
Oct. 16,Kent Wories (Butler, cross country); Amanda Stinson (Green Bay, soccer)
Oct. 23,Robby Leibold (Milwaukee, swimming); Alyse Serritella (Loyola, volleyball)
Oct. 30,Steve Grove (Cleveland State, swimming); Genni Gardner (Butler, cross country)
Nov. 6,Steve Grove (Cleveland State, swimming); Beth Steuer (Milwaukee, soccer)
Nov. 13,Robby Leibold (Milwaukee, swimming); Cynthia Morote-Ariza (Loyola, soccer)
Nov. 20,Mike Schachtner (Green Bay, basketball); Mel Snyder (Cleveland State, volleyball)