STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Mississippi State’s Billy Begley has capped his Bulldog basketball career by earning academic honor roll recognition from the Southeastern Conference for the fifth consecutive year. Begley and sophomore teammate Joseph Iupe have been named to the 2007-08 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll, as announced Wednesday by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.
A fifth-year senior guard from Henderson, Ky., Begley has earned his fourth straight selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll after garnering SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll status as a collegiate rookie in 2003-04. Begley joins former MSU basketball student-athletes Wesley Morgan (2003-06) and Whit Hughes (1995-98) as four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipients.
This year’s MState representative on the SEC Men’s Basketball Community Service Team, Begley is currently pursuing his master’s degree in business administration (MBA) after receiving his bachelor’s degree in business management with cum laude honors (3.52 cumulative GPA) last year. Along with having earned the Newsom Award for maintaining the highest GPA on the Bulldog basketball team, Begley is a two-time Dean’s List Scholar.
Having formerly prepped at Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts and Webster County High School in Dixon, Ky., Begley served as a three-time team co-captain for coach Rick Stansbury’s Bulldogs. During his five-year collegiate career in Starkville, Begley was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams, an NIT semifinalist club, one SEC championship squad, and three SEC Western Division title teams.
A sophomore walk-on guard from Madison, Iupe made this year’s SEC Academic Honor Roll after collecting SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll laurels a season ago. The former Madison Central High School letterman is majoring in accounting at MSU.
With this year’s pair of SEC Academic Honor Roll recipients, the Bulldogs trail only the University of Florida for the most total men’s basketball academic honorees during the past 10 seasons. Dating back to the 1998-99 campaign, Mississippi State’s 29 total honor roll recipients trail only the 35 compiled by Florida during the past decade. LSU is third with 28 selections, followed by Alabama and Vanderbilt with 26 apiece.
Encompassing the winter sports of basketball, gymnastics, swimming & diving, rifle and bowling, a total of 367 student-athletes were named to the 2007-08 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll, which is based on grades from the 2007 Spring, Summer and Fall terms.
