By: By: Daniel Gallegos
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Last year's inaugural
"Mulespy Awards" were a resounding success and the Southern Arkansas University Athletic Department is pleased to announce that the second-annual installment of the end-of-the-year gathering to honor its student-athletes will take place on Wednesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. inside the W.T. Watson Center.
The event will be free this year, and the general public is invited to attend.
Continuing with the theme modeled after popular awards shows such as the ESPYs, the
"Mulespy Awards" will once more feature eight major award categories that will be handed out. Special recognition of Outstanding Athletes and seniors of the 12 athletic teams as well as Athletic Training and Cheerleading will also be made throughout the evening.
Among the major awards that will be presented are:
Male and Female Newcomer of the Year
Male and Female Comeback Player of the Year
Murphy USA Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Auburn Smith Male Athlete of the Year
Dr. Margaret Downing Female Athlete of the Year
Murphy USA remains the title sponsor of the scholar-athlete of the year awards, further strengthening a long-standing relationship with Southern Arkansas University and its athletic department. In recent years Murphy USA has generously partnered on several facility
Murphy USA President and CEO
Andrew Clyde
enhancement projects at SAU that have helped cultivate the athletic facilities on campus into some of the best around the region.
As part of that award presentation, Murphy USA President and CEO, Andrew Clyde will be on hand to share some special remarks to the crowd and assist in the presenting of the awards.
Clyde assumed his role at Murphy USA in 2013 to lead its spin-off from Murphy Oil Corporation and establish the business as a strong stand-alone public company. With a growing network of more than 1,400 retail stores in 26 states, Murphy USA serves more than 1.6 million customers each day.
Finally, the top-two awards will be handed out in the form of the
Auburn Smith Male Athlete of the Year and the
Dr. Margaret Downing Female Athlete of the Year Award. Both Auburn Smith and Dr. Margaret Downing's legacies have left indelible marks on Southern Arkansas Athletics and each had a distinct hand in where the department stands today and the tradition it has built.
SAU Athletics is also pleased to announce that former SAU Baseball player and current Head Men's Basketball Coach at East Tennessee State University, Steve Forbes will serve as a special guest speaker for the event.
Forbes, a 1988 graduate in Secondary Education from Southern Arkansas, played baseball at SAU and was on the 1987 Mulerider Baseball team that finished third-overall at that year's NAIA World Series. Earlier this year, Forbes and the rest of the 1987 Mulerider Baseball team made history as they were the first team to be inducted into the SAU Sports Hall of Fame.
Steve Forbes
SAU Alum (1988) - Current ETSU Head Basketball Coach
After that 1987 baseball season, Forbes spent one year as the Sports Information Director at SAU before embarking on his coaching career.
Since then, Forbes has found success everywhere he has gone, both as an assistant and as a head coach. Over the course of his 27 years coaching, Forbes and his teams have advanced to postseason play 21 times. In 13 seasons as an assistant coach at the Division I-level, Forbes helped guide nine of those teams to 20-plus win seasons.
In 10 seasons as a head coach, Forbes has won 20 or more games eight times and has won 30 or more games twice. In his two seasons at Northwest Florida, Forbes coached his team to the NJCAA Championship Game.
Most-recently, Forbes has just completed his third season as the head coach at ETSU where he has led the Buccaneers to a 76-39 (.661) overall record. In his second season at ETSU, Forbes advanced to the NCAA Tournament after claiming the Southern Conference Tournament Championship.
Helping present awards throughout the evening will be members of SAU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Additionally, video segments will be shown throughout the event featuring SAU coaches and administration as well as senior athletes.
The following is a list of nominees for the awards to be presented that evening:
Male Newcomer of the Year
Female Newcomer of the Year
Male Comeback Player of the Year
Female Comeback Player of the Year
Murphy USA Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Murphy USA Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Auburn Smith Male Athlete of the Year
Dr. Margaret Downing Female Athlete of the Year
