The NCAA Top VIII Award is given each calendar year to senior student-athletes who excel both on the field and in the classroom. Eight student-athletes are chosen, with at least one each from Division II and Division III. Student-athletes must have a 3.000 grade point average and be a varsity letter winner.
The award began in 1973 as the "Today's Top V Award" and has grown since that day.
Northern Kentucky University's Top VIII Award Winners
2001 - Kevin Listerman - Men's Basketball
The four-year starting point guard led Northern Kentucky to a 104-26 four-year record, two Division II national runner-up finishes (1996 and 1997) and two other national championship tournament appearances while earning various Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) honors.
A second-team all-conference performer in 1997-98, Listerman also was a four-time member of the conference's all-academic team.
The two-time conference leader in steals ranked among GLVC leaders in assists and free-throw percentage as a sophomore, junior and senior. After leading the Norse in assists, steals, rebounds and minutes played in 1999-00, Listerman was named team MVP. He holds the school records for career steals and games played, as well as single-season marks for steals, games played and games started.
Recipient of a 2000 NCAA postgraduate scholarship, Listerman is enrolled in graduate school for secondary education after graduating summa cum laude as a biology and secondary education major.
He has won the school's Paul J. Sipes Award for a student with honesty, character and industry who has actively participated in community affairs, and the GLVC Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award for academic excellence, athletics ability and achievement, character and leadership. He earned perfect grade-point average five times and made the dean's list with a grade-point average of 3.660 or higher three other times.
A member of the NCAA and GLVC Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC) from 1997-00, he chaired both groups in 1999-00. He assisted with creation of the GLVC SAAC, including writing the bylaws. Listerman developed, organized and led the 2000 GLVC Leadership Summit A three-time NCAA Leadership Conference participant, he led a roundtable discussion at the 2000 NACDA convention on the SAAC.
2003 - Michelle Cottrell - Women's Basketball
A two-time Division II Bulletin National Player of the Year and an NCAA Woman of the Year state winner, Cottrell led Northern Kentucky to the 2000 Division II championship, the first for her alma mater in any sport. The three-time Kodak all-American led Northern Kentucky to the NCAA tournament four times, including three Elite Eight appearances. The most outstanding player in the 2000 Elite Eight was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year three times and was named all-conference four times, leading her team to the regular-season conference title each year.
Cottrell graduated with a 3.46 grade-point average in physical education and was a recipient of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. She received the GLVC-Richard F. Scharf Paragon award, which is given each year to one female student in that conference. A winner of the 2002 GLVC women's basketball scholar-athlete of the year award, she made the conference's all-academic team twice and was named to the Verizon/CoSIDA District IV all-academic team.
One of two student-athletes appointed to Northern Kentucky's Athletic Council, she participated in the Walk for Women's Athletic Scholarships for four years and helped with the WCET Action Auction, which raised funds for public television. She was nominated for her alma mater's "University Service Award" upon graduation in December 2002.
