Feb. 17, 2010
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - A freshman walk-on in 2007, UCF outfielder Shane Brown (Winter Park, Fla.) worked his way up the chart to become the Knights' leading hitter for the past two seasons. And along with his accomplishments on the field, his perseverance and community service off of it has helped him be named one of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - classroom, character, community and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, with the winner to be announced at the NCAA College World Series in June.
Brown is one of two players from Conference USA to be selected as a candidate, joining East Carolina's Kyle Roller. The Winter Park native is a member of the UCF athletic director's honor roll six times in his career and has made the deal's list as well. He has been nominated twice for the William Callarman Award, which is one of three of UCF's academic achievement awards.
A preferred walk-on with no scholarship as a freshman, Brown did not lose hope and persevered to ultimately become one of the best student-athletes on the team. He eventually earned scholarship money as a junior, and was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2009.
In the summer of 2008, Brown worked in the Washington, D.C., area for the RBI program: Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities sponsored by MLB and KPMG. He helped increase participation and interest in baseball where the sport is dying out due to lack of fields and funds. Brown also increased academic participation and achievement with the young players, taught the value of teamwork and helped promote greater inclusion of minorities into the mainstream of the game. He also spends time with the Orlando little leagues to teach fundamentals of baseball, along with Support Families at Holidays, which works with Autistic children.
On the diamond, Brown led UCF's offense in several categories in 2008 and 209, including batting average and on-base percentage. He recorded a 22-game hitting streak in 2009, the second-longest streak in UCF history, and at one point reached base in 18-straight plate appearances. At the end of the year, he was selected to the All-C-USA Second Team.
Season tickets for the 2010 campaign are already on sale. The Knights will play 36 games at home this year including Opening Day Feb. 19, and reserved bleacher seats are only $150. Faculty/staff, youth and senior season tickets are $99. To purchase tickets, call 407-823-1000 or visit UCFAthletics.com.
And for the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures, and become a follow of the Knights at Twitter.com.