MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University football senior Tyler Orlosky was named one of 10 finalists for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award, today.
Orlosky is the first WVU football player to earn Senior CLASS Award finalist honors and one of two from the Big 12 (Jordan Evans, Oklahoma) this year.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Orlosky has started at center for the past three years and is regarded as one of the best in the nation. He was a 2015 and 2016 preseason All-American and was an All-Big 12 first team honoree in 2015 by ESPN.com and second team by the league coaches. In 2016, ProFootball Focus has listed Orlosky as the best center in the Big 12 and one of the top in the nation.
In 2016, he is one of the main cogs on the offensive line that is leading the way for the Mountaineer offense to rank No.15 nationally in completion percentage, No. 16 in fewest tackles for loss allowed, No. 18 in total offense, No. 24 in passing offense, No. 29 in passing efficiency and No. 38 in rushing offense.
Orlosky graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise psychology in August and is currently working on a master’s degree in corporate communications. He is a three-time All-Big 12 Academic team member and a mainstay on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Orlosky is active in community initiatives as well. In June, he and teammates visited with a woman dying of cancer and helped her live her dream of seeing Milan Puskar Stadium one more time before she died and made her and her family feel part of the Mountaineer family. He was involved in “Once a Mountaineer, Always a Mountaineer Program, has visited patients at the WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital, served as a guest speaker at a WVU donor dinner, worked several WVU camps as a counselor and also worked the Football 101 football clinic for women.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to vote on the
Senior CLASS Award website through December 12. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the football bowl season in early January.
