Golfer Joseph Sykora named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
While Michael Thompson was preparing for the Masters last week, his teammate on the golf team, Crimson Tide golfer Joseph Sykora, was named the male H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award winner for Southeastern Conference. That’s two in a row for Alabama, which saw baseball player Emeel Salem win the same thing last year.
And all three are former or current students at the Culverhouse College of Commerce. Thompson is majoring in fiance and Sykora is a graduate student in the Culverhouse School of Accountancy. Salem, a sixth-round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, graduated last December with degrees in marketing and Spanish. He is currently playing centerfield for Columbus, the Class A Tampa Bay affiliate.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive announced Sykora’s award Sunday. The award will be formally presented during the annual awards banquet at the league’s spring meetings in Destin, Fla. on May 29.
Sykora will receive a $10,000 postgraduate scholarship, provided by AT&T.
“The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Award is the highest honor a student-athlete can receive in the Southeastern Conference,” said Slive.
Sykora, a senior from Daphne, Ala., earned his undergraduate degree in accounting in 2007 with a perfect 4.00 grade point average and is enrolled in the master’s program at UA in accounting, where he has earned a 4.00 GPA.
He is a two-time member of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America At-Large first-team and was voted the SEC Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2006 and 2007. Sykora was also a finalist for the Paul W. Bryant Student-Athlete Award during the last two years. He is also a member of the Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars Team.
Sykora is a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and has been a member of the UA President’s List and Dean’s List since fall 2003. In 2007, Sykora was named the Austin Scholar for Outstanding Senior in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, the Outstanding Graduate Student by Beta Gamma Sigma, the Alumni Outstanding Senior Award and was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
As a member of the Tide golf team, he was the individual medalist at the Topy Cup US-Japan Intercollegiate and the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate. He was also the Alabama State Match Play Champion and participated in the U.S. Amateur Match Play Championship.
The Crimson Tide are currently the nation’s top-ranked golf team by Golfweek.
Sykora has also been active in the community, volunteering in local children’s programs as part of the UA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, teaching golf to children at the Alabama Golf Camp and being a student leader in Campus Crusade for Christ.