Jan. 24, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The Scholar-Baller Program and the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) announced Wednesday that senior pitcher Jaager Good (Atlanta, Ga.) received the National Academic Momentum Award for the southeast region. The honor was handed out to just eight male and eight female student-athletes across the country.
"The recognition of this award is really a tribute to all of the people around me," said Good. "Whether it's been my coaches, Jay Bergman, Craig Cozart, Bryan Peters and Rich Wallace, my academic advisor Jennifer Alger, my teammates or my parents, they have all been there from the beginning. They never gave up on me, and along the way I proved to myself and to them that I could excel in the classroom as well as on the field."
The Academic Momentum Awards will be officially presented on Jan. 28 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando during the Founder's Luncheon of the NCAS Annual Conference from 11:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Established in 1995, the Scholar-Baller movement evolved in response to concerns that the student-athlete's athletic role increasingly superseded the student role. In order to address this issue, the founding members of Scholar-Baller developed a groundbreaking program to bridge the gap between education and sport utilizing student-athletes' passion for entertainment and athletics. As a result, the Scholar-Baller program has produced unprecedented outcomes in student retention and academic achievement.
Along with improving his marks in the classroom during his academic career, Good's story on the diamond in 2007 was one that will not soon be forgotten as well. Through his first two seasons, the right-hander made just 16 appearances without any starts. He pitched in only 14.0 innings with a 6.43 ERA. Good then climbed out of the bullpen last year, making 15 starts in 16 appearances and eventually evolving into UCF's Friday-night starter.
Good was not completely satisfied with earning the start every Friday, he wanted to prove he belonged in the rotation and finished with 12 outings of at least 5.0 innings. He led the Knights with a 5-5 record, 62 strikeouts and 88.0 innings of work, all while notching a 3.89 ERA. Good saved his best game for last, pitching 7.0 shutout innings vs. Houston in an elimination game of the Conference USA Championships. His performance enabled UCF to post the only 1-0 victory in the tournament's history, as he was named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team.
Senior guard Amber Long (Irmo, S.C.) of the UCF women's basketball team, meanwhile, earned runner-up recognition for the award. Long has played in 13 games this season for the Knights, hauling in 12 rebounds and posting five steals and 18 points.
The NCAS is an ever-growing organization of colleges and universities that provides opportunities for current and former student-athletes to continue their pursuit of higher education, while working in the community with children to address social issues. Established in 1985, the overall mission of the NCAS is "to create a better society by focusing on educational attainment and using the power appeal of sport to positively affect social change."