The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Clay Named 2014 Senior CLASS Award Candidate
9/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Redshirt senior midfielder Alex Clay of the UAB men's soccer team was named one of 30 candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award, as announced on Tuesday. The Senior CLASS Award recognizes an NCAA Division I senior with notable achievements in the community, classroom, character, and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete, and Clay is a prime example of a student who uses their platform in athletics to make an impact as leaders in the community. The candidate list will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season and the winner will be announced during the 2014 Men's College Cup in December.
In the classroom, the Huntsville, Ala. native is a standout. The senior philosophy major owns a 2.94 cumulative GPA. Clay has been recognized for his efforts academically, being named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll twice in his time at UAB. Student-athletes named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.
As a junior, Clay was named one of the team captains of the 2013 UAB men's soccer team. Clay was voted team captain in a vote by his teammates. He was once again named a captain for the 2014 campaign. Clay also displays an incredible amount of sportsmanship on the field. In three seasons, Clay has only received two yellow cards and has never been issued a red card.
Like many members of the UAB men's soccer team, Clay donates his time to charity. Clay has visited the Children's Hospital in Birmingham in conjunction with the UAB "Soccer for a Cure" Classic. There, he spends time with the children, playing games, signing autographs, and much more.
On the pitch, Clay is arguably one of the best players in Conference USA. Heading into the 2014 season, Clay was named to the Preseason All-C-USA Team. He started off the year by matching his career-best with four points in the season opener against Memphis on Friday, Aug. 29. Last year, Clay took home the inaugural C-USA Golden Boot Award and earned All-C-USA and All-Midwest Regions accolades.
Clay and the UAB men's soccer team returns to the pitch on Friday night at the Hurricane Classic in Tulsa, Okla. UAB faces Cal State Northridge at 5 p.m. CT.
2014 Senior CLASS Award Candidates
Tyler Arnone, Michigan
Charlie Bales, Western Illinois
Laurie Bell, Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Andy Bevin, West Virginia
Winston Boldt, Army
Kingsley Bryce, Saint Louis
Wesley Charpie, USF
Alex Clay, UAB
Robert Conner, Saint Mary's
Sean Davis, Duke
Julian Dickenson, Pittsburgh
James Fawke, Missouri State
Marquez Fernandez, UMBC
Patrick Hodges, Evansville
Alex Ivanov, Ohio State
Mamadou Kansyae, UMBC
Sagi Lev-Ari, Cal State Northridge
Charlie Lyon, Marquette
Ignacio Maganto, Iona
Chris Makowski, Syracuse
Alex Markes, Brown
Maid Memic, Hofstra
Tyler Miller, Northwestern
Luke Mishu, Notre Dame
Ciaran Nugent, Lehigh
Conor Osborne, American
Tim Parker, St. John's
James Rogers, New Mexico
Braeden Troyer, South Carolina
Patrick Wall, Notre Dame
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For men's soccer news, follow @UAB_MensSoccer.
