LAS VEGAS – Washington State men's basketball senior forward Josh Hawkinson was selected the 2016-17 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference office announced Wednesday ahead of the start of the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament at T-Mobile Arena at Las Vegas.

Hawkinson becomes the third WSU men's basketball student-athlete to be named the conference's scholar-athlete of the year, joining Robbie Cowgill and Taylor Rochestie, who picked up the honors in consecutive years, 2008 and 2009, respectively. 

Hawkinson, who completed his undergraduate degree in business in just three years, currently maintains a 3.42 grade-point average as an MBA candidate at Washington State. A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree and three-time Pac-12 All-Academic Team member, Hawkinson is one of 10 finalists for this year's Lowe's Senior CLASS Award which recognizes notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

This season, Hawkinson earned Second Team All-Pac-12 honors while being one of two conference players to average a double-double during the regular season at 15.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He became WSU's career rebounding leader and the 13th player in Conference history to reach 1,000 career boards.

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport's regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.

ALSO NOMINATED: Sam Singer (CALIFORNIA), Dylan Ennis (OREGON), Marcus Allen (STANFORD).