University of Oklahoma Athletics
Batchev, McGinnis Earn Gautt Scholarship
June 01, 2020 | Football, Athletics, Rowing
NORMAN — Former University of Oklahoma rower Andrea Batchev and football player Connor McGinnis are among the 20 student-athletes from Big 12 Conference schools who were named recipients of the 2019-20 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship, the league office announced Monday. The amount of each scholarship is $10,000. Batchev is the third OU rower to earn the award, while McGinnis is the fifth OU football player.
The scholarships are named in honor of the late Dr. Prentice Gautt, a former Big 12 Conference staff member and student services' pioneer who passed away in March 2005. Gautt, who earned his undergraduate degree from OU in 1960, broke new ground in 1956 as the first African-American football student-athlete on scholarship at the university under hall-of-fame head coach Bud Wilkinson.
A two-time All-Big Eight Conference football selection and CoSIDA Academic All-American, Gautt played professionally for the Cleveland Browns in 1960 and the St. Louis Cardinals from 1961-67.
The list of all-time recipients of the scholarship has grown to 461 since the inception of the league in 1996-97. Starting in 2002-03, additional funding increased scholarship award winners to two per member institution.
To date the Big 12 has provided more than $3.5 million for postgraduate education. The individual grants began at $2,500 in 1996-97, were raised to $5,000 in 1999 and increased to $6,900 for 2004-05. The awards climbed to $7,500 in 2006-07, moved to $9,000 in 2011-12 and to $10,000 in 2013-14.
On the water, Batchev has been a contributor from early in her Sooner career. She was named the Novice team MVP in 2015-16 after competing in the 2V8 that took second place in the Grand Finals of the Big 12 Championship. In 2017, she rowed in the three seat for the Sooners' 1V8 boat that finished second at the Big 12 Championship before moving to the stroke seat of the same boat in 2018, which also took second at the Big 12 Championship.
The Rockwood, Mich., native earned her degree in chemical biosciences while recording an impressive 3.94 cumulative GPA. A 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large Team selection, Batchev is a four-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree. She was also a recipient of the 2018 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award. She plans to further her education in an MD/PhD program.
A holder in all 55 of OU's games over the last four seasons, McGinnis was also a reserve quarterback. He won the 2017 Mortell Holder of the Year Award and this past season was the holder for kicker CBS Sports first-team All-American Gabe Brkic, who made all 17 of his field goal attempts and all 52 of his extra-point tries. McGinnis also held for kicker Austin Seibert, who is OU's and the Big 12's all-time leading scorer. McGinnis' Sooner teams won Big 12 championships in all five of his years on campus, and advanced to the College Football Playoff four times.
From Oklahoma City, McGinnis excelled in the classroom, graduating with a 4.0 GPA in finance and being named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team four times. The 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-American earned the Big 12's Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award that year and was also an eight-time President's Honor Roll honoree (4.0 GPA) and nine-time Sooner Scholar and member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. He is pursuing a master's degree in finance.
Criteria for the Gautt Scholarship include a cumulative GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, participation in at least two years of intercollegiate athletics at the nominee's respective institution and completion of athletics eligibility. The student-athletes also must graduate from their respective member institutions within 15 months of their selection for a postgraduate scholarship and are expected to enroll in graduate/professional schools within two years of graduation.
Three faculty representatives, one senior woman administrator, one director of athletics, one head athletics trainer and the chair and vice-chair of the Big 12 Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee form the selection panel for the awards.
