Dartmouth's Nick Bonacci Awarded NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- Dartmouth's Nick Bonacci (Crofton, Md.) is of 58 student-athletes that has been awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship in the amount of $7,500. The scholarships are given to 29 male and 29 female student-athletes in all three NCAA divisions who participated in spring sports (baseball, men's and women's golf, men's lacrosse, women's rowing, softball, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's outdoor track and field) this academic year.

The NCAA also awarded 116 postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes participating in fall and winter sports in which the NCAA conducts championships or participates in as an emerging sport, for a total of 174 postgraduate scholarships annually.

Bonacci has racked up the academic awards since coming to Hanover. He was named a Dartmouth Choate Scholar as freshman and then the last two years he has been a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree. This season he earned his first-ever Academic All-America honors after being named to the ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-America at-large first team.

After a stellar senior campaign on the men's lacrosse team Bonacci was voted to the Lowe's Senior Class All-America team. He earned a spot on the team as a result of a nationwide vote of coaches, media and fans. Twice a first team All-Ivy and All-New England honoree, Bonacci was a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner for the Big Green. He finished his career at Dartmouth fifth in overall scoring with 158 points and fourth in assists with 80.

He has also proven a commitment to community service while at Dartmouth. Along with his academic and athletic commitments he has found time to volunteer with the Special Olympics working on a weekly basis with a local chapter in preparation for competition. Bonacci has also spent time monitoring a developmentally challenged child, working on building trust, self esteem and his quality of life by providing the child with a strong male role model.

Bonacci graduated in June after earning a 3.89 cumulative grade point average. He plans on going to work for Morgan Stanley in New York City in their Fixed Income Trading Division.

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports. Athletics and academic achievements, as well as campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership, are evaluated. In maintaining the highest standards in the selection process, the program aims to reward individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through postgraduate study in an accredited graduate degree program.

To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall grade-point average of 3.200 (on a 4.000 scale) or its equivalent and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete was nominated. The student-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.

Nomination forms are sent to faculty athletics representatives for all sports in the fall. Selections are made three times each academic year. The application must be submitted during the appropriate seasonal category for the sport to the NCAA National Office. Candidates are screened by seven regional selection committees, and the award recipients are selected by the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee.

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