Feb. 24, 2015

MVC Release | McCullough Bio | McCullough Man Up and Go Video | Bears Host Bradley

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri State University sophomore Tyler McCullough (Fayetteville, Ark.) has been named as a winter recipient of the Missouri Valley Conference Leadership & Service Award, commissioner Doug Elgin announced Tuesday.

Formerly known as the MVC Good Neighbor Award, the Valley awards program recognizes the achievements of exceptional student-athletes for their efforts on and off the competition field.

McCullough holds a 3.61 grade point average in finance and has been heralded on the MSU Athletic Director's Honor Roll twice and the Dean's List twice. He also earned Missouri State's prestigious student Public Affairs Award in September.

This season, McCullough has played in 27 games with 12 starts and is averaging 4.1 points and 2.9 rebounds with a team-high 31 blocks -- which ranks third among all MVC players. He is also shooting 72.4 percent from the free throw line this winter and has made greater than 46 percent of his field goal attempts.

Last June, he returned from Africa where he and a group of American ambassadors spent time with orphaned children in Uganda as part of the "Man Up and Go" movement, The national program has served nearly 2,000 orphans, providing supplies, sports equipment and love to young, often cast-away orphans. During the trip, McCullough and his fellow ambassadors built homes, painted, sponsored and even adopted children while serving the needs of the local communities in Ethiopia and Uganda.

His service resume also includes volunteering for the Juvenile Diabetes walk; Salvation Army Christmas Tree Angel Shopping; Healthy Heroes; Bears Read program; and Teen Cancer Challenge. He is the basketball representative on the MSU Student-Athlete Advisory Council and is a student leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and CRU.

Other MVC winter honorees include Xzavier Taylor, Bradley, Men's Basketball; Elizabeth Heap, Drake, Women's Basketball; Taylor Shotwell, Evansville, Women's Swimming & Diving; CJ Hamilton, Illinois State, Men's Track & Field; DeSean Prentice, Indiana State, Men's Indoor Track & Field; Sam Penzenstadler, Loyola, Men's Indoor Track & Field; Marvin Singleton, UNI, Men's Basketball; Ella Otto, Southern Illinois, Women's Swimming & Diving; Cara Detmer, Wichita State, Women's Indoor Track & Field.

In order to be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must be in good academic standing, must demonstrate good citizenship through good sportsmanship and significant community service, and must participate in a sport, during the season of recognition. The Valley will recognize 10 student-athletes three times annually (fall, winter, spring), for a total of 30 honorees. Institutions select their MVC Leadership & Service Award honorees.

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Previous Missouri State winners of the MVC Leadership and Service Award are:

Fall 2007 - Carrie Vestal, Sr., women's cross country

Winter 2007-08 - Amy Crowder, Sr., women's swimming & diving

Spring 2008 - Chris Playter, Jr., baseball

Fall 2008 - David Arkin, So., football

Winter 2008-09 - Roxy Stiles, Jr., women's basketball

Spring 2009 - Jen Carr, Sr., softball

Fall 2009 - Terry Phillips, So., women's cross country

Winter 2009-10 - Will Creekmore, Jr., men's basketball

Spring 2010 - Scott Glenn, Jr., men's golf

Fall 2010 - Heath Melugin, Jr., men's soccer

Winter 2010-11 - Rene Smith, Sr., women's swimming & diving

Spring 2011 - Emily Matthews, Jr., women's golf

Fall 2011 - Ashlee Mason, So., volleyball

Winter 2011-12 - Christiana Shorter, Jr., women's basketball

Spring 2012 - Emily Beaver, Jr., women's track/cross country

Fall 2012 - Chelsea Voet, Sr., women's soccer

Winter 2012-13 - Jared Roberts, Jr., men's swimming & diving

Spring 2013 - Kimsue Grant, Sr., track & field

Fall 2013 - Caleb Schaffitzel, football

Winter 2013-14 - Bryanna Snow, women's basketball

Spring 2014 - Eric Straub, Sr., men's golf

Fall 2014 - Leah Reitmayer, field hockey

Winter 2014-15 - Tyler McCullough, men's basketball