NCAA to honor top student-athletes at Convention  

A group of extraordinary student-athletes will be honored in January as the NCAA Today's Top 10 Award winners.

The award recognizes former student-athletes for their successes on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Recipients completed their athletics eligibility during the 2013-14 academic year and will be recognized at the Honors Celebration during the NCAA Convention in the Washington, D.C. area.

The NCAA Honors Committee selects the honorees and is comprised of representatives of member schools and conferences, as well as nationally distinguished former student-athletes.

Before 2013, the award recognized eight student-athletes and was known as Today's Top VIII. The NCAA Honors Committee then expanded the award to include 10 honorees to recognize the increased number of student-athletes, sports and championship opportunities.

GPA: 3.71

Sport: Men's Basketball

Mark Thomas, a student-athlete who played basketball at Livingstone, led his team to its first NCAA Division II national championship tournament appearance in 2013, 134 years after Livingstone was founded.  Thomas led Livingstone to the NCAA Division II tournament again in 2014, the same year Livingstone captured its first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship. While leading Livingstone to the CIAA title, Thomas was named Tournament MVP and CIAA Player of the Year – a first in school history. Also in 2014, he was selected as CIAA Scholar Male Athlete of the Year and named the Boxtorow Division II National Player of the Year. Thomas scored more than 1,000 points during three seasons at Livingstone and holds CIAA records in steals, points per game, points and 3-pointers. He graduated summa cum laude, contributing to his team's off-the-court recognition as the 2014 CIAA men's basketball team with the highest cumulative GPA. He served on Livingstone's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and also performed community service for several local organizations, including Habitat for Humanity of Rowan County and the Rowan County Department of Social Services. Additionally, Thomas was the winner of Coca Cola's Outstanding Student-Athlete award, and he was chosen as an HBCU Grand Prize winner to attend the Black Entertainment Television Experience at LA Live.

To Read More On The Other Receipents Visit NCAA.ORG