Kuksiks earns Toyo Scholar Athlete of the Year

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Rihards Kuksiks earned the Pac-10 Men's Basketball Senior 2010-11 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, presented by Toyo Tires. An Interdisciplinary Studies major, with concentrations in Sociology and Communications, Kuksiks sports a 2.96 GPA and will graduate in May. His senior class produced the most wins by a four-year class in school history (80).

A senior from Riga, Latvia, Rihards finished his career 23rd on Arizona State's all-time leading scorer list with 1,175 points. He posted 280 career three-pointers made, second on the ASU career list and seventh on the Pac-10 list, while his 696 attempts is ninth on the Pac-10 career chart and fourth in ASU history.

In order to be eligible for the Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are also factored into the voting for the award.

Scholar-Athletes of the Year in each sport receive a commemorative award. Toyo Tires will donate $1,000 to the scholarship funds of the institution's athletic department of each winner in recognition of their accomplishments.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year is named in each of the Pac-10's 22 sponsored sports. The Pac-10, in cooperation with corporate partner Toyo Tires, established the "Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards, presented by Toyo Tires" during the 2008-09 academic year.

Kuksiks posted 10th 20-point game of his career with 22 points vs. Oregon on Mar. 3, and ASU was 7-3 in those games. He matched career-highs in points (27) and rebounds (nine) in the Jan. 8, 2010, win over No. 24 Washington. He had six 20-point games in 2009-10 with ASU going 5-1 in those games and led the team in scoring in six times in 2010-11 and in 20 times in career.

20-POINT SCORING GAMES FOR RIHARDS
27 vs. #24 Washington (Jan. 8, 2010)
27 vs. San Francisco (Nov. 20, 2009)
25 at Oregon (Jan. 14, 2010)
24 vs. USC (Mar. 4, 2010)
24 vs. UCSB (Dec. 21, 2009)
22 vs. Oregon (Mar. 3, 2011)
22 vs. USC (Jan. 27, 2011)
21 vs. Jacksonville (Mar. 16, 2010/NIT)
20 at Nevada (Dec. 17, 2010)
20 vs. Syracuse (Mar. 22, 2009 @Miami/NCAA)