TEMPE – Arizona State University senior Amber Freeman continued her postseason awards haul on Tuesday as she was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as announced by the conference office.
The award has been established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline. Now a member of the USSSA Pride National Pro Fastpitch team, Freeman finished her career with a 3.37 GPA and a B.S. in health sciences (Healthy Lifestyles Coaching) and minoring in family and human development.
Freeman’s selection was the fifth Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor awarded to a Sun Devil softball player, all of those coming in the last eight seasons. She is the 29th overall Sun Devil selection for all sports to earn the honor since 2007-08 and the fourth ASU student-athlete this season to tab the accolade.
Freeman was honored as a Capital One First-Team Academic All-American last week, just days after being named an NFCA First-Team All-American as well. Freeman was one of four players to earn both First-Team All-America and First-Team Academic All-America honors. She also become just the third player in ASU history to earn First-Team honors on both lists, joining the elite company of Katelyn Boyd (2011, ’12) and Kaitlin Cochran (2008, ’09).
Freeman finished her time at ASU with a .389 career batting average, good for third in ASU’s all-time record book. She was also fourth in ASU history with 56 career home runs, fifth with 197 RBI, fourth with 267 total hits and tied for fifth with 46 doubles.
Academically, Freeman is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection and was a second team CoSIDA Academic All-American last season. Freeman was also a candidate for the 2015 Senior CLASS award, which recognizes Division I seniors that have notable achievements in community, classroom, character and competition.
ASU SOFTBALL SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR (2007-08 TO PRESENT)
2015 Amber Freeman, (B.S., Health Sciences, May of 2015)
2012 Katelyn Boyd, Softball (B.S., Family and Human Development, May of 2012)
2011 Lesley Rogers, Softball (B.A. Sociology, May of 2011)
2009 Jessica Mapes, Softball (B. S. Family and Human Development, May of 2009)
2008 Jackie Vasquez, Softball (B.A.E. Special Education (December of 2008)
PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR (2007-08 TO PRESENT)
Stanford, 50
Arizona State, 29
Arizona, 18
California, 14
Oregon, 13
UCLA, 13
YEAR-BY-YEAR BREAKDOWN OF PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR WINNERS
2014-15: Arizona 4, Arizona State 4, California 1, Stanford 5, UCLA 3, USC 1, Utah 2, Washington 2
2013-14: Stanford 6, Arizona 6, California 2, UCLA 2, USC 2, ASU 1, Oregon 1, Cal State Bakersfield 1, WSU 1
2012-13: ASU 5, Stanford 5, California 3, Oregon 3, Arizona 1, OSU 1, UCLA 1, USC 1, Washington 1, WSU 1
2011-12: Stanford 8, ASU 3, California 3, Oregon 2, OSU 1, Utah 1, Washington 3, WSU 1
2010-11: Stanford 9, ASU 3, California 3, Oregon 2, USC 2, Boise State 1, Oregon State 1, Washington 1
2009-10: Stanford 7, ASU 5, Washington 3, Arizona 2, Oregon 2, UCLA 1, USC 1, WSU 1
2008-09: ASU 5, Stanford 4, Oregon 3, UCLA 2, WSU 2, Arizona 1, California 1, Cal State Bakersfield 1, OSU 1, USC 1, Washington 1
2007-08: Stanford 6, Arizona 4, ASU 3, UCLA 3, OSU 2, WSU 2, California 1, Washington 1
SUN DEVIL PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR WINNERS
2014-15 (4)
Taylor Kelly, Football (BAE, Educational Studies, May of 2014)
Chace Eskam, Wrestling (B.S., Pshychology; Sociology minor, May of 2015)
Noemi Jimenez, Women's Golf (B.I.S., Interdisciplinary Studies Concentrations in Business and Tourism Development & Management, May of 2015)
Amber Freeman, (B.S., Health Sciences, May of 2015)
2013-14 (1)
Jasmine Roth, Soccer (B.S., Biochemistry, May of 2014)
2012-13 (5)
Jacqueline Cako, Tennis (B.S., Biological Sciences, May of 2013)
Carrick Felix, Men's Basketball (B.S., Communication, May of 2012)
Nick Happe, Men's Track & Field and Men's Cross Country (B.S., Finance, May of 2013)
Jake Meredith, Wrestling (B.I.S. Business and Urban Planning, May of 2012)
2011-12 (3)
Giulia Molinaro, Women's Golf (B.S., Tourism Development and Management, December of 2012)
Katelyn Boyd, Softball (B.S., Family and Human Development, May of 2012)
Elina Eggers, Women's Swimming and Diving (B.S., Economics, May of 2012)
2010-11 (3)
Rihards Kuksiks, Men's Basketball (B.I.S. Interdisciplinary Studies Concentrations in Communications and Sociology, May of 2011)
Mary Atkinson, Gymnastics (B.S. Biological Sciences Emphasis in Genetics and Cell and Developmental Biology, May of 2011)
Lesley Rogers, Softball (B.A. Sociology, May of 2011)
2009-10 (5)
Brandon Bethke, Men's Cross Country (B.I.S. Interdisciplinary Studies Emphasis in Organizational Studies, May of 2010)
Mike Nixon, Football (B.A. Political Science, December of 2009)
Knut Borsheim, Men's Golf (B.S. Finance, Certificate in International Business Studies, December of 2010)
Juliana Murcia, Women's Golf (B.F.A. Art Emphasis in Sculpture, May of 2010)
Ryan Whiting, Men's Track and Field (B.S.E Civil Engineering, May of 2010)
2008-09 (5)
Sybil Dosty, Women's Basketball (B.I.S. Interdisciplinary Studies Concentrations in African & African American Studies and Communication, August of 2008)
Jenna Kingma, Women's Cross Country (B.S. Marketing, May of 2008)
Azahara Muñoz, Women's Golf (B.A. Psychology, May of 2009)
Jessica Mapes, Softball (B. S. Family and Human Development, May of 2009)
Sarah Stevens, Women's Track and Field (B.S. Kinesiology, May of 2008)
2007-08 (3)
Jackie Vasquez, Softball (B.A.E. Special Education (December of 2008)
Steve Neuwert, Men's Swimming and Diving (B.S. Finance, December of 2008)
April Kubishta, Women's Track and Field (B.A. Mathematics of May 2007)