Anderson’s Hash, Mars Hill’s Ricker Named SAC Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Anderson senior Chandler Hash and Mars Hill junior Ansley Ricker have been voted as the 2013-14 SAC Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year, an award recognizing excellence in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

The SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is presented annually to one student-athlete in each of the conference's 18 championship sports. Winners are selected by the SAC Faculty Athletic Representatives Committee.

Hash earns SAC Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors for the second-straight season. His selection marks the fourth-straight for an Anderson student-athlete, joining Nick Trull, who won the award in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Hash currently carries a 3.51 GPA majoring in nursing. He is a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma Honorary Society, the AU Dean's List and the Capital One Academic All-District and All-America Teams.

On the court, Hash was one of the SAC's top players this season, earning All-Conference and Daktronics All-Region First Team accolades while leading Anderson to the NCAA Tournament. The SAC Championship MVP led the conference and currently ranks fifth in the nation in scoring at 24.3 points per game, and his 778 total points mark the second-highest single-season total in league history.

Away from basketball, Hash serves with numerous organizations, including Hospice House and Discipleship-Now. He has also given time as an elementary school speaker, youth clinic volunteer, church clothing drive organizer and an Anderson freshmen orientation leader.

Ricker, meanwhile, is the third Mars Hill student-athlete in four years and fourth in school history to receive the SAC Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. She holds a perfect 4.0 GPA studying biology with a minor in chemistry.

Ricker's additional academic accolades include selections to the Mars Hill Dean's List, Alpha Chi Honor Society and SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll. She is also a college marshal and a founding member of the Beta Beta Beta National Biological Society, and has been selected for multiple academic research initiatives.

An All-SAC Second Team selection, Ricker ranked third in the conference in scoring this season, averaging 17.8 points per game. She was also the league's third-best three-point shooter, connecting on 35.4-percent of her attempts.

Ricker – a past SAC Student-Athlete Leadership Conference participant - is involved in multiple leadership roles on campus, representing her team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Faculty Athletics Committee. She mentors incoming freshmen, serves as an on-campus tutor, and volunteers with Beacon of Hope, My Sister's Place and Big Brother's Animal Rescue Center.

Also considered:

Jarrick Brown, Lenoir-Rhyne

Danielle Bongiorno, Lenoir-Rhyne

Shelby Wolfe, Brevard

Jasmine DeBerry, Wingate

Shynese Whitener, Tusculum

Mallary Clay, Catawba