SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Summit League officials announced the 2022-23 Daktronics Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award honorees on Thursday. This year's recipients were Oral Roberts' Max Abmas, who earned the male honor, and South Dakota State's Myah Selland, who garnered the female honor.

These two basketball standouts were recognized for their outstanding academic achievements, athletic achievements, attitude, and leadership throughout the 2022-23 academic year. This marks just the second time in League history that the awards were swept by basketball players. The previous occurrence was in 2008-09 when North Dakota State's Brett Winkleman and South Dakota State's Jennifer Warkenthein were honored.

Abmas is just the second male from Oral Roberts to earn the award joining Ben Houltberg from the Golden Eagles' men's track and field team, who claimed the honor in 2000-01. Selland is the fourth Jackrabbit female to earn the distinction joining Rachel King (2018-19; women's track and field), Diana Potterveld (2015-16; women's soccer) and Warkenthein.

The Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is the most prestigious accolade The Summit League bestows each year and is determined by a vote of the league's faculty athletic representatives.

MAX ABMAS | ORAL ROBERTS


Abmas finished his four-year career at Oral Roberts as one of the most decorated scorers in Summit League history. He earned All-Summit League first team honors in each of the last three seasons and was named the League's Player of the Year in 2021 and 2023.

Abmas led ORU back to the NCAA Tournament this season after the Golden Eagles finished the regular season 18-0 in League play and won their second conference tournament in the past two seasons.

He finished this past season averaging a League-high 23.5 ppg in conference games and 21.9 ppg overall as he won his third consecutive scoring crown. The Rockwall, Texas native closed his ORU career with 2,562 points, which ranks second all-time on The Summit League charts and broke the record with 420 career 3-pointers made. He was named a Lou Henson Mid-Major All-American and Associated Press honorable mention All-American for the third consecutive year.

In the classroom, Abmas graduated summa cum laude in May with a 3.81 GPA in math/pre-med concentration. He has been named to the Summit League Commissioner's List and Academic Honor Roll each year he has been eligible, has earned a spot on the men's basketball all-academic team the past three years and was a College Sports Communicator Academic All-American in 2020-21.

Abmas is also the only three-time winner of ORU's "Whole Person Champion Award", which honors athletic accomplishment, academic achievement and spiritual commitment.

Growing up outside of Dallas, Abmas took a servant-attitude to helping the homeless in and around his community and that carried over into his time in Tulsa over the past four years. His primary focus in this area has been helping with the Tulsa Boys' Home, which has served more than 14,000 boys who have either been displaced, abused, or faced substance abuse throughout their lives.

Also nominated for Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Ben Smith, Denver // Luke Labatte, North Dakota // Mike Boeve, Omaha // Jacob Rodin, North Dakota State // Zach Haire, St. Thomas // Dylan Kautz, South Dakota // Matt Dentlinger, South Dakota State

MYAH SELLAND | SOUTH DAKOTA STATE


Selland closed out her dynamic career by being named The Summit League Player of the Year for the second time and leading SDSU to its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance during her tenure. She scored 29 points during an opening-round win over Southern Cal that broke the League's NCAA Tournament single-game scoring mark.

The four-year team captain averaged 16.1 ppg overall and upped that to 16.9 ppg in League play that saw the Jackrabbits go 18-0 in conference play and win their first Summit League Tournament title since 2019.

The Letcher, S.D., native earned All-Summit League first team honors three consecutive seasons and was a Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year finalist for the second time during her career. She surpassed the 2,000-career point milestone and ended up third on The Summit League's all-time scoring charts with 2,167 points.

Selland is the only Jackrabbit to rank among the program's top 10 in points, rebounds and assists.  

In the classroom, Selland carried a 3.9 cumulative GPA throughout her academic career in Brookings, leading to a bachelor's degree in exercise science, community and public health. She was a three-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-American, a four-time Summit League Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence honoree and a four-time Summit League Academic Honor Roll member.

Giving back to her community was engrained in Selland during an early age and her humanitarian efforts continued during her time in Brookings. This past January, Selland was awarded nationally for those efforts as she was named the female recipient of the Coach Wooden Citizen Cup by the Athletes for a Better World organization. Selland and the five other award winners were honored April 27 at a ceremony at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Selland's serving spirit led her to co-founding the nonprofit "Her Turn" initiative with teammate Tori Nelson that provides scholarships for local girls and young women in the Brookings community to attend various SDSU athletic camps. Those two were awarded a $25,000 grant recently from Gatorade and attended the 2023 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles as part of the program.

She was also a four-year Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative for SDSU and also volunteered with Rock Steady Boxing, the Promising Futures Fund and was a mentor with the Brookings County Youth Program.

Also nominated for Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Erika Remington, Denver // Anna Jennings, Kansas City // Claire Orth, North Dakota // Kelley Johnson, North Dakota State // Grace Thede, Omaha // Samantha See, Oral Roberts // Maggie Negaard, St. Thomas // Elizabeth Juhnke, South Dakota 

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