LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State University announced Friday, April 27, Aggie men's basketball student-athlete Trei Steward has been selected to represent the school at the 2007 NCAA Leadership Conference May 27-31 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Steward (Casper, Wyo.), who will be a senior with the men's basketball team next fall, helped the Aggies to a 25-9 overall record and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999 this past season. In 21 games, Steward averaged 1.7 points and 1.1 rebounds while shooting 51.6 percent from the field this year. Steward, who red shirted the 2005-06 season, played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Northern Colorado.
“Trei is a very deserving recipient of this honor and I can’t imagine a better choice to represent NMSU at the conference,” head coach Reggie Theus said. “Trei is one of our team leaders and he is one of those people that leads in whatever he does.”
Steward was selected to represent NMSU at this year's conference after writing an essay on a non-athletic leadership role he held and how he currently uses what he learned from that experience. The conference is an outreach of the successful CHAMPS/Life Skills Program and involves close to 325 student-athletes each year who compete in fall, winter and spring sports in Divisions I, II and III. Many of the student-athletes who participate are members of their conference and campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAACs).
“We are very excited that Trei has the opportunity to attend this conference”, Erica Flores, CHAMPS Life Skills Coordinator, said. “Trei epitomizes what a student-athlete should be; he excels both on the court and in the classroom and he certainly is a great choice to represent Aggie athletics.”
The annual NCAA National Leadership Conference provides NCAA student-athletes with a forum to openly discuss issues that may affect them on their campuses and in their communities, while also providing them with the opportunity to enhance their leadership, communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills. The NCAA National Leadership Conference also promotes better communication among student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty and communities.
The five-day leadership conference consists of daily exercises and activities to help the student-athletes develop as individuals and as contributing members to a group. This conference takes place annually and is provided at no cost to institutions participating in the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills Program.
The New Mexico State men's basketball program is the most improved team in Division I men's basketball over the last two seasons. After going just 6-24 in 2004-05, the Aggies posted a 16-14 overall record in 2005-06 and then upped the win mark to 25 (25-9) this past season.
Courtesy: Rebecca Craig
