The scholarship is given to 24 outstanding student athletes – one man and one woman from each member university – who maintained a minimum 3.0 grade point average and demonstrated a commitment to education, campus and community involvement and leadership.
While his presence transcends his performance in the pool, Hoffer represented the epitome of a student-athlete during his time in maroon and gold, graduating in 2018 with a B.S. in Economics, a B.A. in Business and a Leadership and Ethic Certificate as a part of the Tip of the Fork cohort. He was also given the 2018-19 Pac-12 Tom Hansen Medal award given annually to an outstanding senior male and female student-athlete.
The Colorado-native continued to compete as a graduate student, working toward a master's in public policy while holding an Innovation Policy and Design Fellowship with Dr. Michael Crow's office. Hoffer worked on a variety of tasks and research assignments that were forwarded to President Crow to make decisions on the direction of the university.
In the diving well, Hoffer was a four-time Pac-12 Diver of the Month who punched a ticket to the NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships in three of his four seasons as a Sun Devil. Hoffer peaked during his senior campaign, competing to All-American honors for the first time in his career after placing 15th overall in the three-meter springboard event in Austin. He also took home podium finishes in all three diving events at the Pac-12 Championships among some of the top diving talent in the country.
Hoffer competed on the national diving circuit as well, finishing third in the men's three-meter springboard Olympic Trials Final Qualification event as a sophomore in 2015-16. He also qualified for the finals in the same event at the USA Diving Championships in August 2017, finishing in fifth place. Hoffer plans to continue excelling in diving as he will graduate next spring with his master's degree and looks to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials.
Koopman, a spring 2019 graduate, maintained a high level of achievement both in the pool and in the classroom over her four-year ASU career. She graduated in May with a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences.
During each of her four seasons in the maroon and gold, Koopman earned recognition from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches for her academic achievement - receiving 'Outstanding' distinctions each year for maintaining a GPA above 3.71 out of 4.0. Koopman was named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's All-Academic Team for her last three seasons, which is the maximum number possible for student-athlete.
In the pool, Koopman led the way for the Sun Devil scoring attack, hitting the 50-goal mark during her senior season, and recording 172 career goals. She was as consistent as they come on the offensive end, scoring in 22 of 23 matches and accumulating a team-leading 15 multi-goal games in her fourth season.
In 1999, the Postgraduate Scholarship Program was created to both honor and financially assist some of the Conference's most outstanding athletes and scholars as they continue their educations and prepare for careers in their chosen industries. The Pac-12 annually awards up to 24 scholarships of $9,000 each to former and graduating student-athletes across the conference. Through its institutional selection process, each Pac-12 institution may select two student-athletes to be awarded the scholarship.To be selected for a Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship, a student-athlete must have:
- Maintained an overall undergraduate minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 (based on a 4.00
- scale);
- Completed his/her final season of intercollegiate athletics eligibility in all sports or be in his/her final year of
- undergraduate study, having exhausted athletics eligibility in all sports;
- Been accepted to or already be enrolled as a full-time student in a graduate or professional program at an
- accredited institution, or in a postgraduate program for which an undergraduate degree is required for
- admission;
- Performed with distinction as a member of a varsity team; and
- Exemplified behavior, both in competition and beyond, in a manner that has brought credit to the student athlete,
- the institution, and intercollegiate athletics.