FAIRFAX, Va. – Cleveland State women's basketball senior Mariah White has been named the 2021 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year. White earns the honor after being selected from nearly 1,000 men's and women's nominees.
In addition, White was also selected as the Women's Basketball Individual Sport Category winner.
2021 Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletes Of The Year Release
Last month, White led the Vikings to the 2021 WBI Championship, earning Tournament MVP honors after averaging 18.0 points, 5.0 steals and 3.3 assists through three games. In the first round win over Manhattan, White set a WBI single-game record with nine total steals – and finished the season with a Horizon League leading 59 total takeaways.
Earlier this year, White picked up her second straight Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year accolade, while she was also named to the All-League First Team and earned a spot on the Horizon League All-Tournament Team.
White finished the season ranked 13th on the CSU Scoring List with 1,320 total points, while she also finished the year in the CSU Career Record Book top-10 in steals (6th – 230) and free throws made (6th – 312).
In the classroom, White is on track to graduate Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Math Education carrying a 3.64 GPA, and has been completing her student teaching requirements throughout the semester in addition to her basketball and off-court responsibilities.
Off the court, White is serving as the Cleveland State SAAC Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Chair, and is an active participant in the Horizon League's #OneHL Working Group. White is also a member of the Cleveland State Athletics Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, serving as the student-athlete representative.
Out of nearly 1,000 nominated scholar-athletes, Diverse: Issues In Higher Education named White and Miami's D'Eriq King (football) its 2021 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Female and Male Sports Scholars of the Year for best exemplifying the standards of scholarship, athleticism and humanitarianism.
The Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars Awards honor undergraduate students who have excelled in the classroom as well as on the athletic field. Inspired by tennis legend Arthur Ashe Jr.'s commitment to education as well as his love for the game of tennis, sports scholars are selected based on their athletic ability, academic performance and commitment to community service and student leadership.
White was also a top-10 finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, which takes into account student-athletes achievements in the four areas of community, classroom, character, and competition.
