Jason Holsinger (Lapel, Ind./Lapel) and Shannon Novosel (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic) share more in common than skills on the basketball court.  They also do pretty well in the classroom, and Thursday, they were honored at the University of Evansville Senior Leadership Awards Reception as the Purple Aces' most outstanding scholar-athletes of 2008-09.

Holsinger received the Ralph H. Coleman Award as UE's top male scholar-athlete, and Novosel was presented with the Lois D. Patton Award as the school's most outstanding female scholar-athlete.  The Patton Award winner also becomes the University of Evansville's candidate for NCAA Woman of the Year.  Both the Coleman and Patton award winners are chosen by a vote of the Aces' coaching staff.

Holsinger will graduate next month with a degree in economics.  He was a first team selection on the Men's Division I Academic All-America Team, with a 3.89 grade point average. He was also chosen as the Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year from among the 95 Division I schools that do not sponsor football.  Holsinger was one of five national finalists for the Chip Hilton Award, one of 30 national finalists for the Lowe's Senior Class Award, and co-recipient of the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.  He finished as the 12th leading scorer in University of Evansville history with 1,442 points and finished number three in Missouri Valley Conference history with 283 three-point field goals. This season, Holsinger averaged 12.4 points and helped lead the 17-14 Purple Aces to their best record since 2000, and to their first post-season appearance (CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament) since 1999.

Novosel will also graduate in May as a double-major in mass communications and Spanish.  Novosel earned honorable mention Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete honors, second team Academic All-District V laurels by CoSIDA, and was a first team MVC Scholar-Athlete team member this past year as a senior after compiling a 3.80 grade point average in the classroom.  On the court, she earned MVC all-tournament team honors in helping lead the Purple Aces to the State Farm MVC Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA?Tournament.  In her career, Novosel was a three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete team selection, while also ranking as the only player in UE history, male or female, to record over 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals, and 100 blocked shots in their Purple Aces’ playing career.  She also helped the Purple Aces to back-to-back post-season appearances as both a junior (Postseason WNIT) and a senior (NCAA Tournament).