The Rotary Club of Salem has announced Emory University men's basketball senior Matthew Schner as a finalist for the 2022 Jostens Trophy.
The Jostens Trophy honors - one for men's basketball and one for women's basketball - are national awards created by the Rotary Club of Salem and sponsored by Jostens, Inc., to recognize the most outstanding men's and women's Division III basketball players of the year. The awards focus on three major criteria: basketball ability, academic prowess, and service to one's surrounding communities. The Jostens Trophy models the Rotary International motto of "Service Above Self" by recognizing those who truly fit the ideal of a well-rounded Division III student-athlete. The 2022 season marks the 24th time the Jostens Trophy honors will be awarded.
Schner is one of 11 male finalists as he joins Wheaton's Nyameye Adom, Buzz Anthony of Randolph-Macon College, Trine's Nick Bowman, Jack Davidson of Wabash College, Conner Delaney of Johns Hopkins University, NYU's Robert Hawkinson, Jordan Johnson of Concordia University-Wisconsin, Matthew Leritz of Illinois Wesleyan University, Luke Rogers of Tufts University and Linfield's Dempsey Roggenbuck.
For the full Jostens Trophy finalists release, please see here.
Schner, who was recently named as the University Athletic Association Player of the Year for a second time, was remarkable during his senior season, leading the Eagles to a third straight UAA title and a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Schner established program records for points scored (611), points per game (23.5) and minutes per game (38.0) as Emory finished the season at 20-6.
He was the team's leading scorer in all but three games this season and recorded 25 points or more on 15 different occasions including five games where he had 30 points or better. He ended the year fifth in Division III in minutes per game, 10th in the nation in scoring and was ranked inside the top-5 in the conference in rebounding, steals and assists. Season highlights included a career-best 39 points against Case Western Reserve on Feb. 18, hitting the game-winning jumper with four seconds left in overtime against Carnegie Mellon on Feb. 18 and recording the second-ever triple-double in program history with a 30-15-10 outing against Wabash in the NCAA tournament on March 5. He tied for the nation's lead with three selections to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week and was a six-time selection for the UAA Athlete of the Week, the most by any player in the league.
Away from the court, Matt has been equally impressive as he carries a 3.9 grade-point average as a Finance & Strategy & Management Consulting major, is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, a three-time UAA All-Academic team member and was chosen as an Emory 100 Senior Honorary earlier this academic calendar.
Following a year with record-setting nominations for the award, the 22 finalists (11 men, 11 women) will now be evaluated by the Jostens' 27-person trophy committee which features current and former athletic administrators and head coaches, past Jostens Trophy recipients, and select members of the Division III media. The committee will spend the next two weeks reviewing the nominees with the aim of announcing the two winners on Thursday, March 24.
Additional information on the award can be found at http://www.odaconline.com/jostens.