Ilitch Business 25 Under 25 winner Adrianna Waack named national semifinalist for Wooden Citizenship Cup

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story originally appeared on the Wayne State Athletics website.

Wayne State University junior women's swimming student-athlete Adrianna Waack (Rochester Hills, Mich. / Adams) was named one of 27 national semifinalists for the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup.  After the nomination list was paired down to 27, only four were selected as finalists. The 2020 Collegiate Wooden Cup recipient will be announced at the award ceremony this spring. 

Waack will be a two-time member of the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team and was a recipient of the 2018-19 D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award.  In addition, she was selected to the Mike Ilitch School of Business 25 Under 25 program for the 2018-19 academic year, which recognizes students who have demonstrated success in at least two of the following four categories: academics, leadership, professional development and campus/community service.  Waack attended the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum, where two student athletes from each conference participate in this forum in Florida to better their leadership skills, learn about crucial conversations, and how to bring these skills back to campus to make a difference.  She attended the JP Morgan Chase Winning Women Conference where 50 college student from around the country were chosen to attend the two-day conference to hear from top female leaders.  Her community service efforts include volunteering at local elementary schools, which consists of tutoring first graders in reading.  She also is currently leading her team's efforts to raise enough money to be able to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in the spring of 2020.

Former men's tennis student-athlete Nicholas Ang was a national semifinalist in 2019, track hurdler Karrington Seals was a semifinalist in 2018, while baseball student-athlete Christian Bilkovic was a semifinalist in both 2014 and 2015.  Former women's basketball guard Kristen Long was a 2016 semifinalist.  Former WSU women's tennis student-athlete Tanya Joseph was a semifinalist in 2013 and former women's ice hockey player Ashley King was a finalist during the 2007-08 academic year.

The 16th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award given to the most outstanding role models among athletes, has announced collegiate honorees for its 2020 award ceremony to be held in Atlanta at a date this spring to be announced. Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe and analyst for ESPN, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

Founded by Athletes for a Better World (ABW), a non-profit organization committed to changing the culture of American sports, the Wooden Cup is unique in that it is open to athletes in all high school, collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports. Annual nominations are open to every division and conference in college sports, and to athletes in public and private high schools across the country in partnership with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

John Wooden, who won ten national championships during the years 1964-1975 as basketball coach at UCLA, is commonly regarded as the greatest college coach of any sport who ever lived. Universally regarded as one of the finest human beings to ever grace the world of sports, his character, conduct and selfless gifts stand at the highest level by any standard. When Coach Wooden learned about Athletes for a Better World, he gave authorization to attach his name to this annual award, and he attended and addressed the inaugural event in Los Angeles in 2005. In his honor, the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is presented to four distinguished athletes, one collegiate, one professional or Olympic, and a male and female from the high school ranks, for their character and leadership both on and off the field.

The 2020 collegiate Wooden Cup recipient will be announced at the awards ceremony.

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