End of the Year Team Awards
The Body, Mind & Soul Dr. Alan Patterson Cup:
The ultimate, comprehensive conference award recognizing the member with the best average ranking when combining the below Hawn, Sharp and Messick awards.
Messick Sportsmanship Award
Conference coaches from all institutions rank each institution based on the overall sportsmanship of the institutions, players and coaches. These rankings will be established based on the average score for each sport then tallied together to give an overall point total for the institution.The school with the highest point ranking wins the overall Messick Sportsmanship Award, the men's award winner & the women's award winner (3 awards).
Hawn All-Sports Cup
Based on the finish of each conference sport, points are given ranking the teams from first place to last. The points are then totaled from all the sports for each institution and the institution with the highest total is awarded the overall Hawn Cup, the men's Hawn Cup winner & the women's Hawn Cup winner (3 awards).
Sharp Award
The Allan Sharp award honors former Conference Faculty Athletics Representative Allan Sharp that shall be presented annually to the league member institution having the highest graduation rate of athletes as determined by the Faculty Athletics Representatives. The Allan Sharp Award is determined by using the NCAA Academic Success Rate (ASR). The ASR is a measurement submitted by institutions to the NCAA that measures the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of initial enrollment in college and can be found in a database managed by the NCAA.
Individual Awards
Murphy Osborne Scholar-Athlete Award
This is Conference Carolinas' Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete Award. Student-Athletes are nominated by their institutions based on their academic, athletic, and service accomplishments. The Faculty Athletic Representatives (FARs) from all Conference Carolinas institutions submit institutional nominations, and votes are cast by the FARs. To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must be a December or May graduating senior or a first-year graduate student completing athletic eligibility at the same institution as undergraduate matriculation. The student-athlete must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25, a full-time student at the time of nomination and for at least two years at the member school, and must be a starter or important substitute in a conference sport.
To be eligible for the award the student-athlete:
- Must be a senior, graduating in the current academic year (December or May) with the exception of a first-year graduate student who is completing his/her final year of eligibility at the same institution as undergraduate matriculation.
- Must have a minimum of four-semesters of residence at the nominating institution.
- Must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25.
- Must have a full-time student at the time of nomination and for at least two years at the member school.
- must be a starter or important substitute in a conference sport.
- Required personal essay.
Athlete of the Year
The Athlete of the Year Award (1 Male & 1 Female each year) is based on the most outstanding Athlete for the year in the league. Per ADs vote, nominations will be accepted from member institutions all and all nomination information, statistics, and accomplishments should be for the current year, should solely be based on athletically related criteria, and to only include conference sponsored sports.
All-Conference Academic Team Award Criteria (cumulative)
The All-Conference Academic Team Awards are awarded after the completion of the sports season and to student-athletes who meet the following criteria:
- Junior or Senior academic status as determined by the Registrar's Office; not based on athletic status.
- Fifth year students (only) have the opportunity for a third year of recognition (effective Jan.1, 2017).
- Competed in a conference sport.
- Cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) on all work completed at the member institution.
- GPAs for student-athletes who play a winter or spring sport need to include the previous fall semester's grades.
- Must have completed at least two full-time semesters at the member institution (currently in their third semester or beyond).
Presidential Honor Roll (individual semester)
The Presidential Honor Roll, compiled at the end of the Fall & Spring semesters, recognizes student-athletes who have earned a 3.20 grade-point average on a 4.00 scale for that semester for ALL sports (can include non-conference sports). All student-athletes are eligible for inclusion on the Honor Roll.
NCAA Woman of the Year Nominees
Award sponsored through the NCAA Woman of the Year program, which recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
Comeback Athlete of the Year
A conference award nominated by each institution's head athletic trainer that will be given to recognize a student-athlete who participates in a Conference-sponsored sport, has suffered a significant injury, and come back to make significant contributions to their team after recovering.
SAAC Make-A-Wish Awards
A continuation of the conference's award system that recognizes outstanding institutional fundraising efforts for the national Make-A-Wish campaign for individual schools' Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC). The MVP Award is given to the institution that collected the most funds during the academic year. The Comeback Award is granted to the most improved institution when comparing funds collected from the previous academic year. Finally, the Top Play Award is presented to the institution bringing in the most money across all institutions for a single campus event.
All-Conference Student Support Team
A conference award that will recognize students who support athletic teams through service including or similar to team managers, statistical support, video service and contest support. Nominees will meet the following criteria:
1. Junior or Senior academic status as determined by the Registrar's Office.
2. Cumulative grade point average of 2.7 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) on all work completed at the member institution.
3. GPAs for students will be based on the previous fall semester's grades.
4. Must have completed at least two full-time semesters at the member institution (currently in their third semester or beyond).
5. A student-athlete in their 5th year could be eligible for recognition.
All Sportsmanship Award
A conference award to recognize sportsmanship that will be presented on an annual basis to an individual for their outstanding sportsmanship. The award will mirror the NCAA's annual sportsmanship award and will be administered through the leagues SWA committee (Note, the SWAs could elect not to present the award in years in which they did not feel there was a worthy candidate).
Postseason Awards
Player of the Year
Nominated by institution, each institution then votes for the winner but is not allowed to vote for their own nominee.
Coach of the Year
Nominated by institution, each institution then votes for the winner but is not allowed to vote for their own nominee.
Freshman of the Year
(Fall Sports will continue to follow the past policy of "True Freshmen" Only)
Nominated by institution, each institution then votes for the winner but is not allowed to vote for their own nominee. FOTY Note: The Awards & Championship Committee wanted to expand the award within the below qualifications:
- Student-athlete should qualify only if this is the first collegiate institution they have attended.
- It is the student-athletes first year of competition. (Academic sophomores/redshirt freshmen are eligible, as long as took redshirt at same member school).
- The student-athlete is not applicable for any transfer exceptions. (Exp. Student transfers from a school but didn't play a sport, still not eligible for award).
- Nominators have the responsibility to make sure all qualifications are met.
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Conference Carolinas will announce the Scholar Athletes of the Year following each sport season (fall, winter, spring) as voted on by the student-athlete affairs committee. It will be awarded to one student-athlete in each sport for recognition of their outstanding academic and athletic achievements. Each school will submit their best candidate from each sport that meet minimum qualifications that include all qualifications of the All-Conference Academic Team Award Criteria (above) and additionally the student-athlete must be a current member of the All-Conference Carolinas First, Second, or Third Team that were recently selected by head coaches from conference member institutions.
Elite 26
Will honor student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPA at their respective championship site. The award is modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 Award, allowing all student-athletes at the championship site to win the award. For example in soccer, volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse this would be the "Final 4" and for softball and tennis it would be the "Final 8." For sports like cross country, track & field, swimming, and golf the entire roster would be eligible (Note: ties are accepted and applicable and winners must come from the "Championship Site -no matter if that is 2 teams or 12 teams).
Nominations would come from the compliance officers, similar to the scholar-athlete of the year.
Selection criteria
1. Student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, and in at least his or her second year (in any sport) at his or her current institution.
2. Student-athlete is an active member on the roster, eligible for the championship, and a member of the designated squad size at the championship site in sports with squad size limitations.
3. Credits completed shall only consist of those credits accumulated at the current institution and shall not include any transfer or AP credits.
4. Only undergraduate GPA is applicable. If the student-athlete has graduated and is in graduate school, he or she is still eligible for the award but consideration will be based strictly on an undergraduate GPA. Graduate students must be in good academic standing with the university.
5. Each student-athlete is only eligible to win the award once per academic year, even if he or she participates in more than one sport.
All-Conference
Players are nominated by their institution and then voted on by all the institutions but each institution cannot vote for their own player. The teams are then distributed the following way:
| Sport |
1st Team |
2nd Team |
3rd Team |
Offensive & Defensive Player of the Year |
Player of the Year |
| Men's & Women's Cross Country |
7 |
7 |
7 |
No |
Yes |
| Football |
30 |
30 |
0 |
Yes |
No |
| Men's & Women's Soccer |
11 |
11 |
11 |
Yes |
No |
| Men's & Women's Volleyball |
7 |
7 |
7 |
Yes |
No |
| Men's & Women's Basketball |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Yes |
No |
| Men's & Women's Golf |
15 |
0 |
0 |
No |
Yes |
| Men's & Women's Tennis |
6 |
6 |
6 |
No |
Yes |
| Men's Lacrosse |
15 |
15 |
0 |
Yes |
No |
| Women's Lacrosse |
12 |
12 |
12 |
Yes |
No |
| Women's Flag Football |
16 |
16 |
0 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Men's & Women's Track & Field |
28 |
28 |
0 |
No |
Yes |
| Baseball |
18 |
18 |
0 |
Yes |
No |
| Softball |
12 |
12 |
16 (at-large) |
Yes |
No |
| Acrobatics & Tumbling |
16 |
16 |
0 |
No |
Yes |
| Men's Wrestling |
10 |
10 |
10 |
No |
Yes |
| Women's Wrestling |
10 |
10 |
0 |
No |
Yes |
| Men's & Women's Bowling |
5 |
5 |
5 |
No |
Yes |
Baseball, basketball and softball have all-defensive teams.
All-Tournament
The following charts present the breakdown of the all-tournament teams. Each teams' respective coach selects their all tournament representative based on their postseason finish.
Basketball, Tennis, Volleyball:
| Team's Finish in Tournament |
Number of All-Tournament Team Selections |
| Tournament Champion |
MVP + 2 All Tournament Selections |
| Tournament Runner Up |
2 All Tournament Selections |
| Third Place Finish |
1 All Tournament Selection |
| Fourth Place Finish |
1 All Tournament Selection |
Baseball, Soccer:
| Team's Finish in Tournament |
Number of All Tournament Team Selections |
| Tournament Champion |
MVP + 4 All Tournament Selections |
| Tournament Runner Up |
3 All Tournament Selections |
| Third Place Finish |
1 All Tournament Selection |
| Fourth Place Finish |
1 All Tournament Selection |
Softball:
| Team's Finish in Tournament |
Number of All Tournament Team Selections |
| Tournament Champion |
MVP + 2 All Tournament Selections |
| Tournament Runner Up |
3 All Tournament Selections |
| Third Place Finish |
2 All Tournament Selections |
| Fourth Place Finish |
2 All Tournament Selections |
| Fifth Place Finish |
1 All Tournament Selection |
| Sixth Place Finish |
1 All Tournament Selection |
Golf:
| Finish in Tournament |
Number of All Tournament Team Selections |
| Individual Tournament Champion |
MVP |
| 1st Place - 10th Place Finish |
Each Selected to All Tournament Team |