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Jerome Meyinsse Receives ACC' Skip Prosser Award
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GREENSBORO— Virginia senior forward/center Jerome Meyinsse (Baton Rouge, La.) is the recipient of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 2010 Skip Prosser Award. The award goes to the top student-athlete in men’s basketball in the ACC.
Meyinsse is the third recipient of the award. Previous recipients were Cliff Hammonds of Clemson in 2008 and Jack McClinton of Miami in 2009.
In order to be nominated for the award, a student-athlete must be an upperclassman with a grade point average of 3.0 or better, both in his career and in the previous two semesters. Sixty percent of the award is based on academic achievement and 40 percent on athletic accomplishments.
“This is a wonderful honor for Jerome to receive,” Virginia men’s head basketball coach Tony Bennett said. “I know Jerome and his family will be very proud of this recognition and we’re very proud of him. He represents everything that’s right about a student-athlete. What makes it extra special for Jerome is that he’s waited his turn. He didn’t have a lot of playing time his first three years, but kept working hard and kept a great attitude.
“He’s done very well in the classroom and been a leader of student organizations. When a lot of people would probably have gotten discouraged, Jerome waited and then made the most of his opportunities. He has played well and been an effective player this season. Jerome is an outstanding individual who embodies what you want in a student-athlete.”
Meyinsse has been named to the ACC Men’s Basketball All-Academic Team each of the last three years and the ACC Academic Honor Roll three times. An economics major with a math minor, he recently was named a recipient of one of the ACC’s Weaver-James-Corrigan scholarships. He is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society. Meyinsse is also the president of Virginia’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for 2009-10, has been a Student-Athlete Mentor each of the last four years and a member of the Student-Athlete Mentor Leadership Council the last two years.
One of the most improved players in the ACC this season, Meyinsse is currently averaging a career-high 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds a game. He has started 22 of Virginia’s 30 games this season and leads the team in field goal percentage (.600, 66-110) and blocked shots (20).
Meyinsse scored a career-high 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds in a February 28 loss to No. 5 Duke. Over the last five games, he is averaging 15.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and made 26 of 37 (.703) shots from the floor.
The award is named in honor of former Wake Forest men’s head basketball coach George Edward “Skip” Prosser. Prosser, who passed away on July 26, 2007, compiled a 291-146 record in 14 seasons as a head coach, including a 126-68 mark in six years with the Demon Deacons. The 2003 ACC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year, Prosser won 20 plus games and led Wake Forest to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons as the Demon Deacons’ head coach and brought the school its first outright ACC regular-season title in 2003. Every Wake Forest senior he coached graduated and the Demon Deacons placed nine players on the annual All-ACC Men’s Basketball Academic Team during his tenure.