Pendleton, Schumann Honored

NORMAN, Okla. Carl Pendleton II and Brittney Schumann were among the 24 student-athletes recognized today as winners of the 2006-07 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarships, the Big 12 office announced.

The scholarships are named in honor of the late Dr. Gautt, a former Big 12 Conference staff member and student services' pioneer. Gautt also is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and was the first African-American to receive a scholarship from OU to play football, breaking down racial barriers that opened doors to other Sooner student-athletes. The university celebrated the 50th anniversary of his historic actions at OU last fall during the 2006 Sooner football season and OU's student-athlete academic center is named in his honor.

Gautt passed away in March 2005.

With this year's class, the number of recipients of the postgraduate scholarships has increased to 177. The conference began awarding the scholarships in 1996-97, the first year of the Big 12's existence. Since 2002-03, additional funding has allowed the conference to present scholarships to two student-athletes at each of the 12 member institutions.

For Pendleton, who is from Glenpool, Okla., this marks the third postgraduate scholarship he has won since he announced he would forego his senior season of eligibility to begin graduate school and assume legal guardianship of his younger brother. Last fall, Pendleton, who graduated last December with a 3.81 grade point average in sociology with a minor in religious studies, received a National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete Award and later was named as a 2006 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner. He started in 22 games and played in 38 total in his three-year career, including the 2004 and 2006 Big 12 Championship games and three Sooner bowl games. He was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 first team honoree and was named to the 2006 CoSIDA Academic All-District first team.

His performance on the field and in the classroom earned him a number of honors including the 2006 Bobby Bowden Fellowship of Christian Athletes Award, given annually to the student-athlete who has a minimum GPA of 3.00 and is a faith model in the community, on the field and in the classroom. He was a finalist for the 2006 Danny Wuerffel Trophy, the 2007 John Wooden Citizenship Cup, the 2006 FedEx/Football Writers of America Courage Award, the 2006 Draddy Award and was nominated for the 2006 NCAA Fall Top VIII and the 2007 Coca Cola Community All-American awards. He received the 2007 Big 12 Conference Medal and was named an OU Athletics Director's Leadership Award winner. He also is OU's nominee for NCAA/Big 12 Male Sportsperson of the Year Award.

Schumann, who is from McQueeney, Texas, was a first team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2006 and was a 2006 Women's Gymnastics Coaches Association Academic honoree. She was named to the 2007 CoSIDA All-District at-large first team and is a candidate again for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. She recently was named the recipient of a 2007 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Schumann, who has been very involved with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committees at OU, the Big 12 and the NCAA, is OU's nominee for Big 12/NCAA Woman of the Year and Female Sportsperson of the Year honors. She is currently serving her second term as president of the OU SAAC and was chair of the Big 12 SAAC in 2006-07.

She earned first team NCAA All-America honors in '07 on the vault and was the 2007 NCAA Regional beam champion. She won the 2007 Big 12 title on the vault and was the 2006 Big 12 All-Around champion. She also was the all-around co-champion of the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional. She was a three-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Week in 2007, giving her a career total of seven awards. She is a two-time OU Athletics Director Leadership Award winner and received the 2007 Big 12 Conference Medal winner for excellence in athletics and academics. She finished her competitive career as a three-time NCAA All-American. She was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 first team honoree and was named to the President's Honor Roll (4.00 GPA) six times. She has a 3.95 GPA in health and exercise science and will graduate from OU in December 2007. She plans to attend medical school after graduation.

The individual grants began at $2,500 in 1996-97 and were raised to $5,000 in 1999. In 2004-05, the grants were $6,900 apiece and this year the grants have been increased to $7,500. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.50 on a 4.00 scale; participate in intercollegiate athletics at the nominee's school for at least two years; and have completed his/her athletics eligibility. The student-athlete must graduate from the nominee's respective member institution within 15 months of receiving the award and is expected to enroll in graduate/professional school within two years of graduation.

The selections were made by a panel that included three faculty athletics representatives, one senior woman administrator and one director of athletics.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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