Houston Baptist’s Johnson, McNeese’s King Land Southland’s McDonald Scholarships
FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference announced the two student-athletes receiving the 2019 F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarships: Houston Baptist women’s basketball player Amanda Johnson and McNeese baseball player Bryan King. Commissioner Tom Burnett made the announcement Thursday.
The F.L. McDonald Scholarship is the league’s ultimate academic honor for graduating student-athletes. The award is presented annually to one female and one male student-athlete and is selected by the Southland Conference Faculty Athletic Representative Committee. The $5,000 scholarship must be applied to graduate study at an institution of the recipient’s choice.
The award was established in 1996 in memory of Dr. F.L. McDonald, a former president of Lamar University and 1999 Southland Hall of Honor inductee. McDonald was serving as Lamar's president in 1963 when the Southland Conference was established. He is considered one of the league's founding fathers.
Johnson and King will be recognized Tuesday at the annual Southland Honors Dinner and Ceremony at the Westin Stonebriar Hotel in Frisco.
Amanda Johnson, Houston Baptist
Johnson, a senior basketball player from Georgetown, Texas (Georgetown High School), is a biology major and physics minor with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. The two-time team captain is a CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team selection.
She plans to attend Johns Hopkins University to obtain her PhD in Cross-Disciplinary Biomedical Science.
In addition to her academic all-America recognition, Johnson’s honors this year include: CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team; Southland Conference All-Academic First Team; and All-Conference Honorable Mention.
Johnson made the Spring Commissioner’s Honor Roll for three straight years (with the 2019 announcement set for June), was an All-Conference Third Team selection (2017-18) and is a two-time HBU Varsity Athlete of the year (2016-17 and 2017-18). Johnson has made the Houston Baptist Dean’s List every semester since the fall of 2015. Additionally, she is a member of the Alpha Chi, Sigma Pi, and Chi Alpha Sigma National Honor Societies.
On the court, the guard ranked 11th in NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball for 3-point shooting percentage (43.3), a figure that led the Southland in 2018-19. In her career, she amassed more than 1,000 career points.
Beyond the classroom and basketball, Johnson volunteers with the following organizations: K-9 Angels Rescue, Houston Food Bank, and Hurricane Harvey Relief (2017). She servs as an HBU Tutor at the Academic Success Center and as an HBU Teacher’s Assistant. Johnson coaches at the HBU Basketball Free Kid’s Clinics and Women’s Basketball Elite Camps, and is a member of HBU Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the HBU Catholic Student Association.
In 2017-18, she served as the Southland Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) team representative.
Bryan King, McNeese
King, a senior from Parker, Colo. (Ponderosa High School), boasts a 4.0 GPA while majoring in natural resource conservation. The left-handed pitcher is expected to pick up his fourth varsity letter following the current baseball season before returning to his home state to attend the University of Denver for graduate school in order to “engage conservation plans for current and future generations,” as he states.
He is a 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. King’s campus involvement includes membership in the National Honor Society of Leadership and Success and the McNeese Chapter of Ducks Unlimited.
King volunteers at St. John Elementary in Lake Charles, reading and mentoring students.
He participates as a leader for Team IMPACT, a nonprofit organization that connects children with serious and chronic illness to collegiate athletic teams.
The senior is also involved with his athletic department’s Student Advisory Committee and the baseball team’s leadership council.
Heading into the final weekend of regular-season play, King has appeared in 19 games for the Cowboys, recording an ERA of 3.30.
Johnson and King were chosen from more than 15 soon-to-graduate or already graduated student-athletes. Applicants must have at least a 3.75 GPA and have lettered at least two seasons at the nominating institution. Each recipient must enroll in a full-time graduate program within one year of receiving the award.