Aurora University Athletics

Every April, the AU community gathers together at Honor's Convocation to celebrate the tremendous achievements of our graduating seniors. One of the many awards given each year is the Jim Scott Award, which is presented to the athletic team or teams that best demonstrate the characteristics that Jim Scott, former head football coach (1985-2005), subscribed to during his coaching tenure at AU.  Coach Scott helped pave the Spartan Way, excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community.  Although we cannot gather together in person this year to celebrate, AU Athletics does want to congratulate the 2019 women's volleyball and football teams for earning this year's Jim Scott Award.

The 2019 women's volleyball team had another tremendous year! They won the NACC regular season and tournament championship and represented AU in the NCAA Regional Volleyball tournament, finishing the season with a 23-11 record overall. Several Spartans garnered post-season athletic awards, including two AVCA All-Americans, four NACC All-Conference players, NACC Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.  In the classroom, the Spartans earned a 3.42 team GPA and had five members of the team finish the semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA. In the community, the Spartans volunteered their time at Two Rivers Head Start, the Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry as well donating shoes for the Soles 4 Souls initiative. 

The Spartan football team had their best year in over a decade. They went a perfect 7-0 in NACC Conference play with a 34-point average margin of victory. The Spartans appeared in the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2008 and were five points away from upsetting a tough St. Johns team and advancing to the next round. Throughout the course of the season, the Spartans broke several individual and team records and six players were named to the All-Region team. Off the field, the Spartans were just shy of a 3.0 team GPA and were very active in the community. Members of the team volunteered at Two Rivers Head Start, Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry, Special Olympics, Kiwanis Club, as well as other non-for-profits. 

"Choosing the Jim Scott award winner is one of the highlights of the spring," says Jim Hamad, Director of Athletics. "The Spartan Way has long been a tradition in our department and choosing just two teams that best embody the pillars of excellence in athletic, academic and service endeavors is a tough task. I would like to congratulate not only the women's volleyball and football teams on winning the 2019 Jim Scott Award, but also recognize all of our athletic teams on a tremendous 2019."