In what is an unprecedented move, Oregon State’s Mikayla Pivec’s name has been added to the list of finalists for the 2019-2020 Senior CLASS Award.
The award is given annually to one male and one female college basketball player at the D1 level who, according to the award’s website, personify CLASS, in this case an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.
When the list of 10 finalists were released last week, Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard’s names were on it but Pivec’s was notably absent.
Most comments on the award’s announcement of their finalists were asking where Pivec was, on Friday in his postgame press conference head coach Scott Rueck spent minutes listing off Pivec’s accomplishments on and off the court, wondering how the committee could’ve possibly left her off the list of candidates and saying something should be done to fix the mistake.
Well, they have.
Tuesday, for what they say is the first time ever, the committee added a name to their previously decided list: Mikayla Pivec.
In a post titled ‘Just Do the Right Thing’ Gary Heise said after they released the 10 finalists, they reviewed Pivec’s qualifications and leaving her off the list “doesn’t feel right.”
“Upon receiving some feedback, we have been reviewing very seriously the information we had on the candidates,” Heise said in his post Tuesday. “While everyone associated with the Senior CLASS Award prides ourselves in thorough evaluation, we have come to the conclusion that we had a miss.”
“While the committee feels strongly about the attributes of the 10 finalists who have been chosen, it has been decided that leaving Mikayla Pivec of Oregon State off the list doesn’t feel right. Like the other finalists, she has displayed an incredible combination of achievements as an all-around student-athlete, both on the court and off the court. At the end of the day, although this move is unprecedented in the 18-year history of the award, she is being added to the list of finalists. Our decision is based on just getting it right.”
Voting to help decide the winner of this year’s award has begun and you can cast your vote here: www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/womens_basketball_2019-20/