Two USC Aiken Student-Athletes Receive Post-Graduate Scholarships

By Andrew Gavin, USC Aiken

AIKEN, S.C. – The NCAA recently announced that two USC Aiken senior student-athletes have been awarded scholarships for their postgraduate studies. Volleyball player Mandy Gerolstein was named a recipient of a 2007-08 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship while men’s basketball player Theo Oates has been selected as a recipient of a 2008-09 Ethnic Minority Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics.

Gerolstein, a native of Millersville, Md., is one of 58 fall sports student-athletes nationwide who will receive a one-time, nonrenewable educational grant of $7,500. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in the final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The Association awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women.

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 sports.

Gerolstein plans to attend Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and will receive a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

In the classroom at USC Aiken, Gerolstein has maintained a near-perfect 3.97 grade point average while majoring in biology. The 6’1” senior has been named a First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American, to the Dean’s List, the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, and the Peach Belt Conference Honor Roll every semester at USC Aiken.

On the court, Gerolstein led the Lady Pacers to the 2007 Peach Belt Conference Regular Season and Tournament championships for the second-straight year, notching a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. She became the fourth Lady Pacer to win the league’s Player of the Year this season, but the first for USC Aiken volleyball since Kim Merrill in 1995.

Gerolstein hit .404 to lead the league and rank sixth in the nation. She was third in kills per game (3.75) and seventh in blocks (0.91).

A four-time PBC Player of the Week selection, Gerolstein ranks third all-time in school history with 1,455 career kills, third in hitting percentage (.327), and second with 484 career blocks. In earning her third-straight All-Conference selection, Gerolstein becomes just the fourth Lady Pacer to accomplish that feat, joining Susanna Ruotsalainen (1996-98), Roxanna Rivera (1994-95, 1997), and four-time honoree Merrill (1994-97).

Oates is one of just 13 recipients of the 2008-09 Ethnic Minority Postgraduate Scholarships. The NCAA annually awards the scholarships to ethnic minorities entering their initial year of postgraduate studies. Recipients must be seeking admission of have been accepted into a sports administration or related program that will help them obtain a career in intercollegiate athletics.

The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee developed the scholarship program with the goal of increasing the pool of and opportunities for qualified minority candidates in intercollegiate athletics.

A native of Hopkins, S.C., Oates will pursue a physical therapy degree at the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, Western Carolina, or the University of Michigan-Flint.

In the classroom at USC Aiken in the past four years, Oates has maintained a 3.81 grade point average while majoring in Exercise and Sport Science. Oates has been an active member of the campus while a student-athlete at USCA, representing the men’s basketball team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, being a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, Seeds of Abraham, the Minority Achievement Program, the Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society, and the Student Alumni Association. As a sophomore, the Diverse Issues in Higher Education named Oates an Arthur Ashe, Jr. First-Team Scholar-Athlete.

On the court, the 6’4” forward has played in 96 games for the Pacers, starting 37. Oates finished his career with 403 points, grabbed 247 rebounds, and dished out 105 assists. He had a terrific junior campaign as a co-captain, starting all 31 games and averaging 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. As a senior, Oates helped USCA to a school-record 27 wins, a Peach Belt Conference regular season title, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.