IRVING, Texas – Commissioner Mike Aresco has announced that two American Athletic Conference players of the year – Wichita State baseball standout Brock Rodden and South Florida basketball star Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu – have been chosen as the 2022-23 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year, as chosen by the conference’s faculty athletics representatives.
 
Rodden, who was chosen as The American’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Mendjiadeu, The American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, will each receive a $4,000 postgraduate financial scholarship.
 
Rodden and Mendjiadeu were chosen from a group of 24 individual sport Scholar-Athletes of the Year who received $2,000 postgraduate scholarships.
 
Rodden, a native of Oktaha, Oklahoma, becomes the first Wichita State student-athlete to be named as The American’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year and is the fourth baseball player from the conference to be chosen in the last five years. Rodden was named as The American’s Player of the Year after he hit .371 with 17 home runs and 64 RBIs in 55 games. He was chosen as an ABCA and Collegiate Baseball third-team All-America selection and was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the fifth round of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft.
 
Rodden finished the 2023 spring semester with a 3.77 grade-point average as a health science major.
 
Mendjiadeu, who hails from Nkongsamba, Cameroon, becomes the second South Florida player in the last three years to be chosen as The American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She shared the 2023 American Player of the Year honor with teammate Elena Tsineke and was a unanimous first-team all-conference selection on her way to WBCA honorable mention All-America honors.  She led The American in rebounding at 12.3 boards per game and was third in the conference in scoring with 16.5 points per game.
 
Mendjiadeu earned a 3.57 grade-point average as an undergraduate as a mathematics major and holds a 3.73 GPA as a graduate student in finance while pursuing a professional basketball career with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm
 
Selections for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards are made by the faculty athletic representatives on the basis of academic credentials and athletic performance. Each conference school may nominate one student-athlete who has achieved senior academic standing as determined by the institution. A winner is chosen from each of the conference’s 22 sponsored sports in addition to at-large selections from sports not sponsored by the conference. 

Scholar-Athletes of the Year
The American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards are among of a number of scholarships presented by the conference during the academic year.
 
The conference has presented individual sport Scholar-Athletes of the Year in baseball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball since the 2013-14 season. The conference has presented individual awards in all other sports beginning with the 2017-18 season.
 
2023 American Athletic Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Brock Rodden, Wichita State (Baseball)
 
2023 American Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, South Florida (Basketball)
 
2023 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year

Sport	Student-Athlete	School	Highlights
Baseball	Brock Rodden	Wichita State	American Player of the Year; Third-team ABCA All-America
Men’s Basketball	Sam Hines Jr.	South Florida	Played all 28 games and was second on team in steals
Women’s Basketball	Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu	South Florida	American Player of the Year; WBCA Honorable Mention All-America
Men’s Cross Country	Isaac Akers	Tulsa	American individual champion; four-time all-conference selection
Women’s Cross Country	Katharina Pesendorfer	Tulsa	Fourth-place finisher at American Championships; four-time all-conference
Football	Jason Johnson	UCF	First-team all-conference linebacker; led team with 126 tackles
Men’s Golf	Samuel Jean	Cincinnati	Three-time all-conference pick; program-record 69.77 stroke average
Women’s Golf	Lilly Thomas	Tulsa	Three-time all-conference pick; eight top-20 finishes in 2022-23
Women’s Lacrosse	Belle Mastropietro	Temple	Two-time American Midfielder of the Year; three-time all-conference pick
Women’s Rowing	Karen Undset	Tulsa	Two-time all-conference selection; raced in 30 career regattas
Men’s Soccer	Knut Ahlander	SMU	American Offensive Player of the Year; First-team All-America
Women’s Soccer	Mya Jones	Memphis	Four-time all-conference selection; team’s leading scorer in 2022
Softball	Shannon Doherty	UCF	First-team all-conference infielder; led team with nine home runs
Men’s Swimming and Diving	Dominic Hoefer	SMU	American runner-up in 3-meter diving in 2023
Women’s Swimming and Diving	Nicole Stambo	SMU	American champion in 1-meter diving in 2023; NCAA qualifier in platform diving
Men’s Tennis	Thibault Frumholtz	Temple	Ranks fifth in program history with 84 career singles and doubles wins
Women’s Tennis	Marie Mattel	UCF	Two-time NCAA singles qualifier; two-time all-conference pick
Men’s Indoor Track and Field	Starrett Vesper	East Carolina	Ranks third in program history in decathlon
Women’s Indoor Track and Field	Rayniah Jones	UCF	American champion in the 60-meter hurdles; won four American indoor titles
Men’s Outdoor Track and Field	Cormac Dalton	Tulsa	American champion in the 5,000-meter run; 10th in 10,000 at NCAA meet
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field	Latasha Smith	UCF	American champion in 200 and 400 in 2023
Women’s Volleyball	McKenna Melville	UCF	Three-time American Player of the Year; First team AVCA All-America
Men’s At-Large (Sailing)	Kit Stoll	Tulane	Helped team to 2022 ICSA Fleet Race National Championship
Women’s At-Large (Fencing)	Margherita Calderaro	Temple	Two-time NIWFA foil champion four-time NCAA regional qualifier