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Trio of Spartans honored by department as top athletes

June 11, 2012
Senior forward Draymond Green prepares to address the crowd on April 3, 2012 at Breslin Center. The game against Ohio State was Green's last at Breslin Center. State News File Photo
Senior forward Draymond Green prepares to address the crowd on April 3, 2012 at Breslin Center. The game against Ohio State was Green's last at Breslin Center. State News File Photo —
Photo by State News File Photo | and State News file photo and State News file photo The State News

MSU announced Monday that former basketball forward Draymond Green was chosen as the 2011-12 George Alderton Male Athlete of the Year, while women’s soccer forward Laura Heyboer and golfer Caroline Powers shared the George Alderton Female Co-Athlete of the Year honors.

Green becomes the first men’s basketball player to win the award since former guard Mateen Cleaves won it in 2000. The Saginaw, Mich., native can add the honor to a long résumé that includes a first-team All-American selection, Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player and National Association of Basketball Coaches Division 1 Player of the Year.

The unquestioned leader of the Spartans, Green led MSU in points per game, rebounding and steals in the 2011-12 season. He leaves MSU as the program’s all-time rebounding leader with 1,096.

“Being a Spartan was a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid,” Green said in a statement from the MSU athletics department. “I’m proud to say, ‘I am a Spartan,’ and that will continue long after I’ve left Michigan State.”

Powers, a junior, becomes the fourth female athlete to claim the award in back-to-back years, after she was named a first-team All-Big Ten and National Golf Coaches Association honorable mention All-America for the second year in a row. She owns the top two scoring averages in MSU history, after her 73.78 mark in 2012 put her second to her own record of 73.58.

Heyboer finished her final season by scoring 18 goals and distributing nine assists, which earned her first-team All-Big Ten honors for the fourth time in her career, a feat only four other athletes in the history of the sport have accomplished. Her 139 points as a Spartan place her at the top of the MSU career scoring list.

“I’m absolutely honored and humbled to receive this award, and want to congratulate my co-winner, Caroline Powers, on an amazing season,” Heyboer said.

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