CCAA Trio Selected for NCAA Degree Completion Award
Three CCAA student-athletes have been selected as recipients of the NCAA Division II Degree Completion Award for 2021-22. Chico State’s Joshua Curls and Wyatt Baxter are joined by Frankie Campbell, Jr. of Stanislaus State in receiving financial assistance to complete their undergraduate studies.
The NCAA established the Division II Degree Completion Award Program in 2001 to provide deserving student-athletes financial assistance for them to complete their first baccalaureate degree. Award winners will have exhausted their athletics eligibility and be within 36 semester hours of completing an undergraduate degree. Recipients will receive a tuition award of up to $7,000 to matriculate from their university.
Hailing from View Park, Curls was a guard on the Chico State men’s basketball team. He plans to graduate in the spring of 2022 and pursue a master's degree or attend law school. A member of the Chico State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Curls was a 2019–20 National Basketball Coaches Association Honors Court recipient and also earned CCAA All-Academic honors.
Baxter competed in the discipline of cross country for the highly-touted Wildcats program. He was Chico State’s nominee for the CCAA Championship Scholar Award in the fall for having the team's highest cumulative GPA. He is also one of 13 student-athletes in the nation to earn back-to-back NCAA Division II Cross Country All-America honors in 2018 and 2019.
The Simi Valley native was originally scheduled to graduate this spring with a bachelor's degree in public administration. Baxter will now finish in the fall with two degrees, tacking on a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
"I'm very excited for Wyatt and Josh to receive the prestigious NCAA Degree Completion Award," said Chico State Director of Athletics Anita Barker. "This awards program is always very competitive amongst Division II institutions. For a student-athlete to receive this award is acknowledgment of their hard work and dedication to their academic and athletic careers. Josh and Wyatt are both very deserving. As an athletic program, having two students awarded in one year is a testament to our overall commitment to student success. It's something we all can be very proud of."
Campbell played forward for the Stanislaus State men’s basketball team. Campbell came to the Warriors by way of College of the Canyons where he was a 2018 All-Western State Conference, South Division honorable mention selection. The Las Vegas native is pursuing a degree in business administration at Stanislaus State.
“We are really proud of Frankie and all he has accomplished here at Stan State University,” noted Warriors head basketball coach Paul Trevor. “It is a great opportunity and honor to receive this award which could not go to a more deserving student athlete.”
“I am so proud of Frankie‘s work ethic on and off the court,” added Stanislaus State assistant coach Yee Tran. “He will be successful in any career he chooses to dive in. He has a bright future.”
To date, nearly $6 million has been given to approximately 1,400 deserving student-athletes. Of those student-athletes who have received the award since its inception, 90 percent have earned their undergraduate degree using this program.
Read more on Curls and Baxter (chicowildcats.com) >>>