College Sports

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — On Tuesday, the Ohio Valley Conference announced that Jacksonville State is the recipient of the 2007-08 Team Sportsmanship Award for baseball.

Voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of the respective sports, the team awards are bestowed upon the Conference squads deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators and fans.

"The OVC places high value on sportsmanship and ethical conduct," said Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher, OVC Commissioner. "Our awards acknowledge excellence and are special because it is recognition that comes from one's peers."

The 2007-08 school year marks the third year the team sportsmanship honors have been awarded. This marks the second consecutive team sportsmanship award for the Gamecocks.

Jacksonville State finished the 2008 season with a 37-21 overall record and won the OVC regular season championship. The Gamecocks, who won 16 games in a row near the end of the season, posted a 23-4 OVC record, which set a league record for most Conference wins in a season. JSU outfielder Clay Whittemore was named OVC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent addition to an awards program that recognizes and celebrates sportsmanship within the Conference.

In 1998, the league established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator. Five years later, the Conference added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to the member institution selected by its peers to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA.

In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a first-of-its-kind "Sportsmanship Statement," a policy promoting principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The statement answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship in collegiate athletics, and has become a model for others to follow across the nation.