ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis senior pitcher Alex Alemann has been awarded the Atlantic 10 Postgraduate Scholarship, the conference announced today. Alemann is one of four recipients in the conference.
Alemann is the eighth Saint Louis student-athlete to be awarded an A-10 Postgraduate Scholarship, and his selection gives SLU at least one recipient in four consecutive years. He joins Kelly Tessar (swimming and diving, 2006), Brad Byars (swimming and diving, 2008), Liz Fox (soccer, 2008), Lauren Olson (soccer, 2010), Whitney Roth (volleyball, 2010), Hailee Elmore (tennis, 2011) and Jenny Nalepa (tennis, 2012). SLU's eight recipients in its eight years of A-10 membership account for 25 percent of the scholarships awarded.
Each recipient will receive $5,000 to contribute to their graduate education. Each honoree has performed with distinction both in the classroom and in their respective sports throughout their career, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community. The selections are made by a panel of five Faculty Athletic Representatives from Atlantic 10 member institutions. The recipients of the A-10 Postgraduate Scholarship are required to use their scholarship toward postgraduate education expenses.
Alemann, a current graduate student in Saint Louis' MBA program, is a pitcher for the Billiken baseball team, which won the 2013 Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament titles. He also did his undergraduate work at Saint Louis, earning the Dean's Scholarship all four years and the Academic Excellence Award during all four undergraduate years and in his first year in the graduate program. He has been a member of the Commissioner's Honor Roll, and has volunteered with Special Olympics and other special-needs kids organizations. Hailing from Weston, Fla., Aleman holds SLU records for career wins (27) and starts (61). He also ranks top ten in complete games, strikeouts, and career ERA. He was the 2010 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and has also been selected as All-Conference. He plans to complete his MBA this coming year.
“The Postgraduate Scholarship is one of our highest awards and one that I am especially proud to present to these four distinguished student-athletes. The award honors the academic side of college athletics, which the Atlantic 10 takes great pride in, as evidenced by our expansion of the program,” Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade said. “I congratulate each of our honorees for an outstanding undergraduate careers and a dedication by each of them to being true student-athletes.”
The Postgraduate Scholarship program has been so successful that the Atlantic 10's Directors of Athletics recently expanded the program to 10 individuals each of which will receive $7,000. The program will expand beginning with the 2014 honorees. The expansion is part of a broad-based commitment to academics by the Atlantic 10, which ranks second among 31 conferences in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR). The league was also rated third in the Academic Progress Rate (APR) by the NCAA last year. This year's full APR report is due out June 11.
