Basketball player Nicky Anosike and swimmer Michael Wolfe have been nominated by the University of Tennessee for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship.

The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship has been presented by the SEC since 1986 to the league’s top male and female scholar-athletes.

The SEC will name the winners on Sunday in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day.

Anosike, a senior from Staten Island, N.Y., has earned a 3.77 grade point average, with a triple major in Political Science, Legal Studies and Sociology. She is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2007-08 honor roll released later in spring) and has earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors three times and earned second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors this season.

On the court, she became the 33rd all-time 1,000 point scorer in UT history this season. She has started every game for the Lady Vols this season as the squad is making a run at an 8th national championship in the NCAA Tournament. This season, she has scored in double figures 15 times, scoring a career-high 20 points with 12 rebounds against Auburn, and has five double-doubles. Her two free throws in the final seconds against Rutgers gave the Lady Vols the victory.

A member of the SEC Community Service Team, she has assisted the Second Harvest Food Bank by delivering "Blocks for Turkeys" to those less fortunate over the holidays and participated in the Volunteer Athletic Scholarship Fund (VASF) where she signed autographs and talked with fans and donors.

Anosike has also led warm-up for runners and walkers at the Race for the Cure and helped with the FCAIA Team and Toys Project, buying and distributing toys for young boys and girls who would not otherwise receive gifts for Christmas.

Wolfe, a senior from Bartlesville, Okla., has earned a 3.67 grade point average, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2007-08 honor roll released later in spring), was the Ed America Scholar of the Year at UT in 2005-06 and, last season, earned the UT Athletics Board Highest GPA for a Junior.

Athletically, he was voted his squad’s “Best All-Around Swimmer” twice and earned Olympic Trials qualifying times in the 100 and 200 backstroke as well as the 100 and 200 butterfly. Earlier this season, he was named the National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week by collegeswimming.com. He finished as high as second in the SEC Championships as a sophomore in the 800 freestyle relay. As a junior, he finished in the top six at the SEC Championships in four events – 800 freestyle relay, 100 and 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly.

Wolfe is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor societies and the American Society for Mechanical Engineers. He is active in community service through the UT Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, organizing canned food drives and volunteering time with Habitat for Humanity.

The SEC Office will be releasing each of its institution’s nominees periodically until the April 6 winners are announced. The schedule is as follows:

Alabama – Joseph Sykora, Golf (Male) / Jordan Praytor, Softball (Female)

Arkansas – Tyler Hill, Track & Field (Male) / Stacy Lewis, Golf (Female)

Auburn – Cole Bennett, Football (Male) / Kristen Hastrup, Swimming & Diving (Female)

Florida – Kevin Nead, Swimming & Diving (Male) / Bianca Gibbs, Soccer (Female)

Georgia – Ian Burrell, Track & Field (Male) / Karen Guilkey, Swimming & Diving (Female)

Kentucky – Greg Dombrowski, Baseball (Male) / Ashley Dimkich, Softball (Female)

LSU – Kevin Dessauer, Tennis (Male) / Paige Brown, Swimming & Diving (Female)

Ole Miss – Erling Tveit, Tennis (Male) / Casey Phillips, Rifle (Female)

Miss. State – Dezmond Sherrod, Football (Male) / Annie Falor, Track & Field (Female)

South Carolina – Mark Anderson, Golf (Male) / Whitney Simons, Golf (Female)

Tennessee – Michael Wolfe, Swimming & Diving (Male) / Nicky Anosike, Basketball (Female)

Vanderbilt – April 3

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.