LOGAN, Utah – Utah State star Sam Merrill is one of 30 men’s basketball players in the nation nominated for the Senior CLASS Award.

In order 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. The 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.

The list of candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in February and of those names will be placed on the official ballot. The media, coaches and fans will vote for the award winner.

Shout out to @smerrill05 for being nominated as one of 30 in the nation for the Senior CLASS Award. #AggiesAlltheWayhttps://t.co/5R62d9b7ep

— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 21, 2020

The winner will be announced during the 2020 NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Merrill leads the Aggies in scoring with 17.7 points per game and is second on the team in assists with 3.6 per contest. He is coming off of a season-high 30-point performance against the Boise State Broncos on Saturday, a game that the Aggies lost in overtime.

The Aggie is one of four players in the state to be nominated, including BYU trio T.J. Haws, Yoeli Childs and Jake Toolson.