NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Winners

Past NCAA Scholarship Winners

MOORHEAD, Minn. (3/11/09) -- Concordia senior defensive back Levi DeVries (Bejou, Minn./Mahnomen HS) has been awarded the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship it was announced by the NCAA national office in Indianapolis.

DeVries was one of only 29 male student/athletes in the fall in all of NCAA Division I, II or III to earn the award.

He is the only MIAC male athlete to win the scholarship and one of only three conference athletes to earn the award this year.

DeVries is the seventh Cobber athlete to win the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in the past five years. Jordan Talge, Jessica Walden and Nick Myran won the award in 2004. Angie Pfeiffer and Natalie Hanson earned the honor in 2006 and women's basketball player Melanie Hageman earned the scholarship last spring.

The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.

The one-time grants of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. Each sports season (fall, winter and spring), there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women. The scholarships are one-time, non-renewable grants.

The award is another in a long line for DeVries. He was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American First Team this season. He became only the eighth athlete in Concordia history to achieve Academic All-American First Team honors. He was also a semifinalist for the Draddy Trophy. The Draddy Trophy is one of the top honors in college football as it takes into consideration a player's on field accomplishments as well as their success in the classroom and community activities. Devries was also named to the MIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention Team.

Devries is a Physics and Mathematics double major who carries a 3.97 grade point average. On the field he was a four-year starter and one of the four co-captains this season. Devries is a three-time MIAC All-Academic honoree and has been a member of the Dean's List every semester at Concordia. He was also inducted into the Sigma Pi Sigma honor society for Physics and received the Randy Kurt Bartholomaus Scholarship.

DeVries played in every game during his four-year career. He finished by playing in 42 games for the Cobbers. He was moved from running back to defensive back in his sophomore season and over the last three seasons DeVries amassed 87 total tackles. He had 61 solo tackles and 26 assisted tackles during that time. DeVries also contributed 17 pass break-ups and three interceptions in his career. In Concordia's upset win over conference champion St. John's this season DeVries led the team in tackles with eight and forced one fumble and broke up one pass. The eight tackles was a career high for DeVries.

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports. Athletics and academic achievements, as well as campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership, are evaluated. An equitable approach is employed in reviewing each applicant's nomination form to provide opportunity to all student-athlete nominees to receive the postgraduate award, regardless of sport, division, gender or race. In maintaining the highest broad-based standards in the selection process, the program aims to reward those individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through postgraduate study in an accredited graduate degree program.