Tennis Great Andre Agassi Selected as 2015 Dick Enberg Award Recipient
College Sports Information Directors of America
Previous Dick Enberg Award Recipients
by Jim Seavey, Massachusetts Maritime Academy Director of Sports Information and Intercollegiate Scheduling Coordinator/CoSIDA Academic All-America® Committee
Andre Agassi, whose 20-year Hall of Fame career made him an icon in American men’s tennis, has been named as the recipient of the 2015 Dick Enberg Award which is presented by CoSIDA.
Agassi will receive the honor at the sixth annual Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame Ceremony on Monday, June 15th at the Marriott World Center in Orlando, Fla. at CoSIDA’s annual convention, which will be part of the annual NACDA convention for the third straight year.
The Dick Enberg Award, named for the world renowned and legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster, is presented annually to a person whose actions and commitment have furthered the meaning and reach of the Academic All-America® Teams Program and/or the student-athlete while promoting the values of education and academics. The award was created in part to recognize Enberg's passion and support of CoSIDA's Capital One Academic All-America® program, and more importantly, his dedication to education for more than four decades.
"Andre Agassi was one of the greatest ball strikers in tennis history,” Enberg, who will receive the 2015 Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer,
said of this year’s recipient. “If he got to a return, no matter how difficult, he would consistently produce solid, accurate even amazing contact. Those same attributes have also shaped Andre as a man.
“In the spirit of the Academic All-America® program, he has used his immense athletic talent to make human contact, striking smoothly and unselfishly on behalf of a winning educational program for less advantaged children,” Enberg continued. “Andre is a great athlete committed to giving back at a ‘Grand Slam’ level. I'm deeply honored that he accepts the Enberg Award. On or off the court it's a sincere pleasure to once again announce...Game-set-match...Agassi!"
“I’m extremely humbled and honored to receive this award that is named for one of the true greats in broadcasting, and someone I am proud to call a friend,” Agassi said. “The opportunity to provide children with the chance to achieve excellence in the classroom and in the community is something that I am fully committed to, and Dick and I share that same passion. His voice has not only been one of sport, it is one that brings attention, dedication and action to so many aspects of education and the development of life skills. To be included on the list of Enberg Award recipients is very special in so many ways.”
An eight-time Grand Slam champion and a 1996 Olympic gold medalist, Agassi was one of the most dominant tennis players in the world for a 15-year stretch from the early 1990’s through the mid-2000’s. He ascended to the world’s top ranking in April of 1995 and again returned to that spot less than four years later, and he is one of only four males during the Open Era to capture a career Grand Slam in taking titles at the Australian, French and United States Opens as well as Wimbledon. Agassi also became the first male to win four Australian Open crowns during the Open Era and is the only man to win the Career Golden Slam and the ATP World Championships.
Described as the best service returner in the sport’s history and its biggest worldwide star, Agassi collected 68 career titles while posting 870 overall singles victories for a .761 winning percentage. He captured his first Grand Slam title in 1992 at Wimbledon before winning the first of his two US Open crowns in 1994. Agassi took both the French and US Open championships in 1999, and after winning for the first time in Melbourne in 1995, he proceeded to add three more Australian Open titles in a four -year span from 2000 to 2003.
A son of Las Vegas who has steadfastly remained close to his roots, Agassi played a key role in helping the United States capture three Davis Cup championships in a six-year span, as the Red, White & Blue took titles in 1990, 1992 and 1995. In addition to his eight Grand Slam championships, he also finished as the runner-up in seven others, and his dynamic play and charisma is largely credited for helping to revive the popularity of the sport of tennis in the 1990’s.
In 2011, Andre took his rightful place among the sport’s greats with induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame five years after his retirement, and he remains active in the tennis world by competing in Champions Series events and exhibitions around the world.
In 1994, the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education was established, and for the past two decades has been dedicated to transforming United States public education for underserved youth. The Foundation drives reform by engaging in practice, policy and partnerships that provide quality education and enrichment opportunities. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, which strives to provide underserved youth in Las Vegas with a quality K-12 education to prepare for excellence in college and beyond. Through state and national advocacy, the Foundation also works to increase investment and accountability in public schools.
Since the inception of the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education in 1994, $180 million dollars has been raised to benefit the mission of the Foundation. Over the past 20 years, the Foundation has provided in excess of $60 million to support ongoing programming at Agassi Prep and the Agassi Boys & Girls Club as well as other causes that help children in southern Nevada. Andre and his wife, fellow International Tennis Hall of Famer Steffi Graf, have continued their tireless work on behalf of the Foundation and the mission of Agassi Prep tirelessly, and in 2009 the school enjoyed its finest moment by honoring its first graduating class.
In 2007, Agassi joined fellow Enberg Award recipient Jackie Joyner-Kersee, along with Muhammad Ali, Warrick Dunn, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Mario Lemieux, Alonzo Mourning and Cal Ripken Jr. to found the charity Athletes for Hope, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities. He also created the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, an investment initiative for social change that focuses on the nationwide effort to move charter schools from stopgap buildings into permanent campuses.
As the 19th recipient of the Enberg Award, Agassi joins a select group that includes a United States President, the winningest Division I coaches ever in the sports of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, several Olympic medalists and a member of the United States Cabinet.
(Additional materials for this release were provided by the Agassi Foundation)
Previous Dick Enberg Award Recipients
- 2014 Ann Meyers Drysdale, Basketball Hall of Famer, UCLA/Vice President, Phoenix Mercury & Suns
- 2013 Mike Krzyzewski, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Duke University
- 2012 Joe Paterno, Head Football Coach Emeritus, Penn State University
- 2011 Jackie Joyner-Kersee, UCLA, United States Olympian
- 2010 Tom Hansen, Commissioner Emeritus, Pac-10 Conference
- 2009 Steve Smith, Former Basketball Standout, Michigan State & NBA
- 2008 Chuck Lee, CEO Emeritus, GTE Corporation
- 2007 Pat Summitt, Head Women's Basketball Coach Emeritus, University of Tennessee
- 2006 President Gerald R. Ford
- 2005 Father Theodore Hesburgh, President Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
- 2004 Dr. Ted Leland, Director of Athletics Emeritus, Stanford University
- 2003 Dr. Tom Osborne, Director of Athletics/Head Football Coach Emeritus, University of Nebraska
- 2002 Judge Alan Page, Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
- 2001 Dr. Donna Shalala, President, University of Miami/Former U.S. Secretary of Education
- 2000 Bill Russell, Basketball Hall of Famer, University of San Francisco/Boston Celtics
- 1999 Dean Smith, Head Men's Basketball Coach Emeritus, University of North Carolina
- 1998 John Humenik, former CoSIDA Executive Director, University of Florida/CoSIDA Board
- 1997 Dick Enberg, Hall of Fame Broadcaster/National Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Award
Calendar
Important Dates