Men's basketball senior C.J. Cole experienced one of the greatest achievements of his collegiate career this past April, extending even further than being part of a team that advanced to OU's fifth NCAA Final Four in program history.
The Sperry, Okla., native was presented the 2016 Elite 90 Award at a ceremony to start Final Four weekend in Houston. The award is given annually to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships.
"I honestly had no idea it was going to happen," Cole said. "It was a complete surprise and caught me off guard. It felt really good to be able to represent our team."
Cole, who played in 35 games over the course of his Sooner career, is a chemical biosciences major and will graduate this week with a 3.97 cumulative GPA. In February, Cole was named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team and was the only men's basketball student-athlete to sport a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester. He plans to begin medical school in August.
"I entered college knowing academics would last me a lot longer than basketball," Cole said. "I'm really happy I was recognized for my hard work in academics by winning the Elite 90 Award. It is what is expected out of OU student-athletes, to win awards and be in the spotlight. You expect next year's class to do even better. It is part of the mentality of being a Sooner. You are expected to excel."
