IRVINE, Calif.—UC San Diego women's basketball senior
Sydney Brown is a recipient of the 2021-22 Big West Service and Leadership Award, as announced Friday by the conference.
Brown was one of eight scholar-athletes to receive the honor for the 2021-22 academic year, and the first Triton to be recognized since UC San Diego joined the conference in 2020-21.
The Rexford, N.Y. native is a two-time All-Big West Second Team selection and two-time Big West All-Academic Team honoree. Additionally, Brown served on the Triton Athletes' Council (TAC) as a team representative for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years and was twice named to the All-Triton Scholar-Athlete Team.
Brown is an active leader within the Triton Athletic Department, organizing fundraisers and service events to benefit the greater San Diego community. In 2022, she created the LUNGevity Walk at UC San Diego—to honor her mother who passed from lung cancer in 2021—raising more than $2,000 to support lung cancer research. Additionally, Brown helped organize the Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk and a homeless shelter walkathon, as well as organizing a Love4KBag fundraiser for local oncology centers, a clothing and food drive for a local shelter, and a holiday shopping trip with the Adopt a Family program.
Brown earned her bachelor's degree in Human Developmental Sciences this spring and plans to return for an additional season with UC San Diego women's basketball in 2022-23 as a graduate student.
The Big West has celebrated scholar-athletes for the Service and Leadership Award annually since the 2017-18 academic year. The award winners are selected at the discretion of each member institution with criteria encompassing service, leadership and academics.
Each member institution may submit one honoree per academic year who participates in a Big West sponsored sport and who engages consistently in service and leadership activities that impact the campus, community or regional levels. The awardee makes the most of opportunities presented to them by taking on key roles and is innovative in seeking out meaningful service and leadership opportunities, while keeping their academic eligibility on their respective team.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
