STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton Athletics has announced that Montre Gipson and Malaya Kendrick of Tarleton Men’s and Women’s Basketball are the January recipients of the ‘Tarleton Student-Athletes of the Month’ award, presented by The Grove.
The student-athlete of the month is selected based on the all-around student-athlete for one male and one female. The student-athlete will show effort and excellence in academics, leadership, civility, dedication to the team, campus involvement, community service, and the ability to serve as role models for current and future Tarleton State University students and student-athletes.
To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must be nominated by their head coach or athletic administrator and maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better. Only athletes competing in their championship season are eligible for the award each month.
A senior from DeSoto, Gipson has helped lead Tarleton to five Western Athletic Conference victories over the last month, including a home sweep of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 6-8. He has reached double figures in each of Tarleton’s 10 conference matchups and leads Tarleton in scoring at 15.4 points per game. He etched his name across another section of Tarleton’s program record book on Jan. 1 at Utah Valley when he became the first player in the Texans’ D1 era to reach 500 career points. Gipson also leads Tarleton in assists per game (2.9) and offensive rebounds (37) and ranks third on the squad in rebounds per game (4.6). He is Tarleton’s active leader in minutes played (1,395), scoring (632 points), field goals made (232) and assists (117).
“It’s always great to have your players recognized for other accomplishments they have achieved – other than what they do on the court,” said head coach Billy Gillispie. “Tre has become a great student who has learned to take his academics seriously. He has as much pride in the classroom as he does on the court. He plans to graduate from Tarleton in the spring.”
Across nine games in January, Kendrick averaged 11.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals. In a span of one week starting Jan. 17, Kendrick made the game-winning free throws at Sam Houston with 32 seconds left, and the game winning basket with 8.4 seconds left in overtime at Seattle U on Jan. 22. This season for the 12-9 Texans, Kendrick is top-two on the team in scoring (9.8 PPG), rebounding (6.9 RPG), assists (2.7 APG) and steals (1.4 SPG).
“I could not be prouder of Malaya for her efforts off the floor as well as on the floor,” said head coach Misty Wilson. “She has worked extremely hard to be where she is academically and athletically. I think this recognition is well-deserved for making academics and her team a priority. This type of success does not come without hard work and sacrifice, that is a choice she has made and I applaud that.”
Once selected as student-athlete of the month, the recipients are eligible to be selected for Tarleton Student-Athlete of the Year award at the end of the season. The yearly award will be recognized at the beginning of the following fall semester.
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