CINCINNATI – University of Cincinnati senior guard Troy Caupain (Midlothian, Va./Cosby High School) has been named as one of 30 candidates for the 2016-17 Senior CLASS Award, an honor given annually to a men’s basketball student-athlete who excels both on and off the court.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
A positive example and strong representative for his team, university and the city of Cincinnati, Caupain is an active volunteer who has logged more than 50 hours of service in the Cincinnati community at such places as Our Daily Bread, the Sheakley Boys & Girls Club and the Friar’s Club.
Continuously encouraging and pushing his peers to strive for excellence, Caupain participated in a 2015 campaign that brought awareness to sexual assault prevention. In October 2016, he served as a host for a panel discussion on race in intercollegiate athletics. He also has been a multi-year member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee at UC.
As part of his major in criminal justice, Caupain has shadowed probation officers and a Hamilton County (Ohio) court magistrate and talked with youth at an area juvenile detention center. He is on pace to earn his degree this spring.
The 2016-17 American Athletic Conference Co-Preseason Player of the Year, Caupain earned first team all-league honors a year ago. He recently joined UC’s 1,000-point club and is on pace to end his career among the top five players in school history in assists, games played and minutes played. He currently ranks 19th in the nation and second in the league with a 3.37-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also ranks among the league leaders in assists (fourth at 4.6) and steals (tied for fourth at 1.4). He is currently listed 18th in the nation with 421 career assists and needs five more to pass the great Oscar Robertson (425 from 1958-60) for fifth in school history.
Caupain has started each of the last 60 games and 80 of the 81 dating back to the start of his sophomore year (2014-15). He looks to return to the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive time this March.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The group of 30 candidates will be narrowed to a field of 10 finalists in February. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four. For more information on each of the candidates, visit
seniorCLASSaward.com.
MEN’S BASKETBALL 2016-17 CANDIDATES
Name, Position (School)
Brett Bisping, Forward (Siena College)
Jaron Blossomgame, Forward (Clemson)
Evan Bradds, Forward (Belmont)
Troy Caupain, Guard (Cincinnati)
T.J. Cline, Forward/Center (Richmond)
Willie Conner, Guard (Buffalo)
Steven Cook, Forward (Princeton)
Garret Covington, Guard (Western Illinois)
Billy Garrett Jr., Guard (DePaul)
Darius Graham, Guard (UC Davis)
Josh Hart, Guard (Villanova)
Josh Hawkinson, Forward (Washington State)
Nigel Hayes, Forward (Wisconsin)
Malcolm Hill, Guard (Illinois)
Amile Jefferson, Forward (Duke)
Peter Jok, Guard (Iowa)
Przemek Karnowski, Center (Gonzaga)
Tim Kempton, Center (Lehigh)
Moses Kingsley, Forward/Center (Arkansas)
Bronson Koenig, Guard (Wisconsin)
Luke Kornet, Center (Vanderbilt)
Frank Mason III, Guard (Kansas)
Jason McManamen, Guard (Wyoming)
Jalen Moore, Wing (Utah State)
Omar Prewitt, Guard/Forward (William & Mary)
Austin Price, Guard (Lehigh)
Davon Reed, Guard (Miami [Fla.])
Matt Thomas, Guard (Iowa State)
Derrick Walton Jr., Guard (Michigan)
Maurice Watson Jr., Guard (Creighton)