NEW YORK – Seton Hall center Ike Obiagu has been named BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The selection was made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee.   
 
Obiagu will receive a $2,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies.
 
Obiagu, a redshirt junior who was born in Abuja, Nigeria, has been a standout for the Pirates on and off the court.  He has compiled a 3.715 grade point average in Accounting and is in Seton Hall’s honors program.  He was a Dean’s List student in the fall 2020 semester. He has already been accepted in the school’s Master of Science Professional Accounting Program.  Obiagu has been a member of the All-BIG EAST Academic Team for each of the past two seasons.
 
As a force on the court, the 7-2 Obiagu has been a dominant force around the basket.  He leads the BIG EAST in blocked shots with a 2.7 average.  The 270-pound center is averaging 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds.  He has made 68.9 percent of his shots from the field.
 
The BIG EAST Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the BIG EAST Conference during the 2020-21 academic year. In addition, 20 student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST’s 11 member institutions) will receive postgraduate scholarships as the winners of their respective institutions’ Scholar-Athlete Award. The winners of the institutional and basketball awards are then eligible for the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which provides an additional postgraduate scholarship to one male and one female student-athlete.