Furman football player Adi Filipovic has been awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, it has been announced.
Filipovic, who in late April was named by the Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Directors Association (FCS ADA) as its Scholar Athlete of the Year, becomes the 10th Furman football player to garner a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, valued at $7,500. The next highest tally for Southern Conference football programs is four, by The Citadel.
“Adi has been a tremendous representative for Furman and for the game of football,” said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb on Wednesday. “His hard work in the classroom and on the field has been recognized, and he will continue to excel beyond Furman in ways that will make him even an even greater credit to the university and our football program.”
A 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Amercia selection, the Bosnian native and product of Lakeside High School in Martinez, Ga., was also recently named a Southern Conference TIAA-CREF Graduate Scholar, a $5,000 award which is given annually to a league student-athlete interested in pursuing a graduate degree.
Filipovic graduated summa cum laude from Furman in June 2006 with a 3.92 grade point average in math and economics. He was the recipient of the 2005 Furman Arthur Magill Economics Award and was a four-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll honoree. Named 2006 Furman Student-Athlete of the Year, he published an original work titled “Impact of Privatization on Economic Growth” in Issues of Political Economy.
A four-year letterman, Filipovic helped lead the Paladins to a combined 35-15 record and three NCAA Championship Subdivision appearances and the 2004 conference title.
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 broad-based standards in the selection process, the program aims to reward those individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through postgraduate study in an accredited graduate degree program.