Rishab Agarwal Wins Elite 90 Award For NCAA Division I Men?s Tennis
May 19, 2016 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Adding to his long list of accomplishments on and off the court, Mississippi State men's tennis junior Rishab Agarwal was honored as the Elite 90 Academic Award recipient for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships, the NCAA announced Wednesday night.
The Elite 90 Academic Award recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site of each the NCAA's 90 championships.
Agarwal, who has maintained a 4.0 GPA in business information throughout college, was presented the award during the NCAA Men's and Women's Team Championship banquet held Wednesday evening at the historic Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, Okla.
“I am honored to win this award,” Agarwal said after receiving the award. “To be considered one of the best tennis players academically is very humbling and I couldn't be happier.”
Agarwal is the first recipient of the award at MSU, as the university joins Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Texas A&M and South Carolina as the only schools to have athletes win the honor.
In addition to Wednesday's award, Agarwal earned the tennis program's first Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year award last month. The Hyderabad, India, native was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team as well last week.
On the court, the junior earned a national ranking of 54th overall in singles, which led to his NCAA Singles at-large bid individually. Agarwal garnered All-SEC Second Team laurels as well, after turning in a 21-12 record overall and a 7-5 mark in league play.
“I am proud of Rishab and he is well deserving of this award,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “He's had a great year on the court and in the classroom, so it's been fun to watch him be honored for all of his hard work. Our team strives to be the best on the court and in the classroom, so we're happy that he's achieved all he has in the classroom.”
As a unit the Bulldogs turned in the best GPA among men's teams at MSU at 3.37 overall for the year, with three student-athletes earning perfect 4.0s (Agarwal, Strahinja Rakic and Luka Sucevic).
“Rishab not only leads on the court, but in the classroom as well,” Roberts said. “He shows our guys how to effectively manage their time which leads to excellent results on the court and in the classroom.”
Agarwal and the 21st-ranked Bulldogs face off against second-seeded North Carolina in the NCAA Championship Round of 16 on Friday at 4 p.m. CT, from the Michael Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
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