COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It doesn't matter to Tennessee Tech basketball player Mariah Dean that her team is currently not in-season, the junior has been extremely busy lately. Whether it was assisting as a translator for young students from Cookeville's Spanish speaking community or heading up a large fund raising event to provide needed support for a student-athlete from a different team, Dean has been making a difference in the lives of many others.
That determination to help out has led to Dean being named winner of Tennessee Tech Athletics Unsung Leader Award for the month of April.
"It's great to see that our student-athletes make a difference and do what they can to help someone else," said Golden Eagle head coach Jim Davis. "Mariah is so unselfish with her time and energy, and that positive attitude and effort is contagious with her teammates and others."
A Spanish major from Bakersfield, Calif., Dean played her high school basketball in Atlanta before joining the Golden Eagle program three years ago. She wrapped up the 2014-15 season by accepting the team's Frank Porter Award, an honor which is presented annually to the player for her contributions to the team, the basketball program, Tennessee Tech University and the community. Those contributions consist of leadership, sportsmanship and fair play as well as academics, citizenship and pose on and off the floor.
Dean played in 28 games as a junior, starting two, and averaged just over 15 minutes per game. She provided 4.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shots per game, scoring in double figures five times. She has played in 77 games in three seasons, and will take on a larger leadership role next season as a senior.
It will be a role she should be well-suited for, according to Davis.
"Mariah has the type of personality that you can't help but appreciate," Davis said. "Leadership is a natural trait for her."
In April, Dean put what she has learned at Tech into practice when she worked at Jere Whitson Elementary School in Cookeville, serving as a translator for Spanish speaking students and families who attend the school less than a mile from the Tech campus.
She also planned and coordinated a fund raising yard sale, attended by the entire community, that provided financial assistance for a fellow student-athlete who faced some tough circumstances following the death of her mother.
"When I heard of her plans to hold the yard sale, it really made me proud of her and the maturity she has shown and the care she exhibits," Davis said. "She's a leader not only in the way she carries herself and the way she acts, but also in quiet ways by simply doing the right thing."
Dean came to the Golden Eagle basketball program from Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta, Ga., where she showed her athletic versatility by playeing volleyball and basketball as well as running on the track team. She was recipient of the Best Defensive Player and co-Best All Around JV Basketball Awards, and also received the Scholar Athlete Award,B.E. Mays Academic Athletic Achievement Award, the B.E. Mays FCA Leadership Award twice, and the Superior Scholar Athlete Award.
She is the daughter of Sherman and Rachel Dean.
The Unsung Leader Award was created this year to recognize leadership by student-athletes, with an award to be presented each month throughout the academic year.
“This award recognizes leadership, which many times isn’t reflected in headlines or other ways,” said Director of Athletics Mark Wilson. “Sometimes it’s behind-the-scenes leadership that makes everybody better.
“These young men and women are leaders, pure-and-simple, not doing the right thing for recognition but to make themselves, their teammates, and their teams better,” Wilson said.
One student-athlete each month, nominated by members of the athletics staff, is selected and recognized for exemplifying outstanding leadership qualities. The leadership can be shown on the field, in the weight room, at practice, in the classroom, in study hall, on campus, in the community, for a student club or organization.
This award honors a varsity student-athlete who has made a positive impact on their team and the Tennessee Tech community as a whole, through his or her dedication to demonstrating leadership traits, such as:
* Keep Learning, Growing, and Improving
* Follow Through with Excellence
* Accomplish More than Expected
* Inspire and Motivate Others
Previous Unsung Leader Award winners have been Ellen Conti (volleyball in September), Austin Tallant (football in October), Geoffrey Sambu (cross country in November), Courtney Smith (volleyball in December), Jordan Hopkins (baseball in January), Olivia Bennett (softball in February), and Haley Davidson (women's golf in March).
