Tim Abromaitis has become the first-ever, three-time recipient of the American Eagle Outfitters Scholar Athlete of the Year Award.

Tim Abromaitis Named American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Scholar Athlete Of The Year

March 6, 2012

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Tim Abromaitis (Unionville, Conn.), who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in late November 2011, made history on Tuesday evening (March 6) as he was named the American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Scholar Athlete of the Year for the third consecutive. Abromaitis became the first-ever three-time recipient of one of the league’s most prestigious awards.

The two-time Irish captain has distinguished himself on the basketball court and in the classroom like few players in the 107-year of the men’s basketball program at Notre Dame. A three-time Dean’s List honoree, Abromaitis earned his undergraduate degree in finance with a 3.73 grade index in May 2010 from the Mendoza College of Business in just three years and finished with a 3.73 grade index over eight semesters. He then completed a one-year intensified MBA program and graduated with a 3.617 grade point average in earning his master’s degree in May 2011.

A two-time first team Capital One Academic All-America in 2010 and 2011, Abromaitis also was the recipient of the BIG EAST Scholar Athlete Sport Excellence Award for men’s basketball in each of those two seasons. He also became the first Irish men’s basketball player to earn first-team Academic All-America honors in back-to-back seasons since Pat Garrity in 1997 and 1998.

Abromaitis became the third player in BIG EAST history in 2011 to win the men’s basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year in back-to-back years. Connecticut’s Emeka Okafor was a two-time recipient in both 2003 and 2004, while Seton Hall’s Arturas Karnishovas was the honoree in both 1993 and 1994.

Abromaitis was a third-team all-BIG EAST selection in 2011 and earned a spot on the honorable mention team in 2010. He was an all-BIG EAST first team pick in the preseason this past fall.

A member of the 2011 USA Men’s World University Basketball Team in August, Abromaitis averaged 15.2 points and a career-best 6.2 rebounds during the 2010-11 campaign in helping lead Notre Dame to a 27-7 overall record and second-place finish in the BIG EAST Conference with a 14-4 mark. In conference play, he netted 14.7 points and grabbed 5.4 rebounds. In 2009-10, he averaged 16.1 points and 4.7 rebounds.

Abromaitis is one of 52 players in Notre Dame history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. In 83 career outings, that included 62 starts, he scored 1,137 career points for a 13.7 scoring average. After scoring just 20 points as a freshman in 2007-08 and sitting out the 2008-09 campaign, Abromaitis totaled 1,089 points during the ’10-’11 and ’11-’12 seasons.

Prior to his injury, he had played in two games and was averaging 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds. During his career he scored in double figures in 58 outings, netted 20-plus points on 22 occasions and topped the 30-point mark three times. Abromaitis recorded three career double-doubles and grabbed 10 or more rebounds in four outings.

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