The University of Mississippi Athletics
Athletics Well Represented At Graduation
5/8/2010 | Athletics
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss Athletics will be well represented at Saturday's graduation ceremonies on the University of Mississippi campus.
Forty-three Ole Miss student-athletes are set to earn degrees this semester. In addition, 12 Rebels already earned bachelor's degrees in December of this academic year.
Among the student-athletes earning their degrees is baseball player Scott Haltom, who was selected a Taylor Medalist, the highest academic honor at the University. A catcher from Ridgeland, Miss., Haltom holds a 3.96 grade point average in Mechanical Engineering and has been accepted to graduate school at the University of Texas for its master's program in Engineering Mechanics.
Barnabas Kirui of the men's cross country and track and field teams will also earn his degree. Kirui has enjoyed a decorated career at Ole Miss, including winning the NCAA 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2007. Last fall he became the first two-time SEC Cross Country Champion in school history, and in 2006-07, he won four SEC titles and was named the SEC Runner of the Year. Kirui owns a 3.44 GPA in Accountancy and is an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America first team selection.
Another graduate, Andy Hartmann of the football team was a finalist for the Boyd McWhorter SEC Postgraduate Scholarship. As a blocker, he helped Dexter McCluster post the second-highest rushing total in school history with 1,169 yards as the Rebels went 9-4 and won their second consecutive Cotton Bowl. Hartmann was selected as the 2010 Cotton Bowl Scholar-Athlete Award winner.
Women's basketball star Bianca Thomas will graduate on Saturday before taking her game to the next level. The WNBA first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Sparks was a two-time All-SEC first team honoree and leaves Ole Miss among the top 10 scorers in program history. Thomas was awarded a $3,000 postgraduate scholarship as a finalist for the Brad Davis SEC Community Service Postgraduate Scholarship.
Among those who finished their degrees in December is Dori Carter, a two-time All-American on the women's golf team, who is now playing professionally on the LPGA Futures Tour. The two-time All-SEC first team honoree earned her degree in Management.
The University of Mississippi's 157th commencement ceremonies begin Saturday at 9 a.m. in The Grove with U.S. Secretary of the Navy and former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus, Jr., delivering the address. The individual schools' graduation exercises will follow in various locations across campus.