Belmont University senior Justin Hare (Cleveland, Tenn.) received yet another prestigious national honor recently, as he was named 2008 Scholar Athlete of the Year by the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association. This is the latest award in a long and distinguished career for Hare. Last week, the 6-2 guard was named Mid-Major Most Valuable Player by CollegeInsider.com. A month prior, Hare was named First Team Academic All-American – becoming the third Bruin to earn multiple Academic All-America honors.
Hare is a two-time Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament MVP, a two-time First Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference player and led Belmont to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Hare is one of just 12 student-athletes in NCAA Division-I men’s basketball to be recognized. Moreover, Hare is one of just two honorees to have played in this year’s NCAA Tournament, joining Travis Lay of American University. The Cleveland, Tenn. native sports a 3.87 GPA in his major of exercise science and health promotion. He plans to attend medical school upon graduation.