LAS VEGAS – Adding to his collection of accolades for his work on the court and in the classroom, senior Brandon Angel has been named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's basketball.
Angel is Stanford's fourth winner in a row in the category, joining Oscar da Silva (2021), Sam Beskind (2022) and James Keefe (2023). Stanford men's basketball becomes one of five programs in Pac-12 history to capture the award in four consecutive seasons, joining only Stanford programs with the accomplishment: men's rowing (2024-17), women's soccer (2010-13), women's swimming (2018-21) and women's volleyball (2019-22).
Stanford men's basketball has won nearly half of the all-time awards in the category since the award's inception in 2007-08 – eight of 17 honorees are Cardinal players. The other Stanford winners are Dorian Pickens (2018), Chasson Randle (2015), Dwight Powell (2014) and Landry Fields (2010).
Perhaps the most efficient scorer on volume in the country, Angel is averaging 12.8 points per game on shooting splits of 56.1/46.5/84.8, and he is the only player nationally meeting all four benchmarks. He is 12th nationally in true shooting percentage (67.8%) and 23rd in effective field goal percentage (63.6%), per KenPom. He is the only player in the Pac-12 ranked in the top 10 in the league in field goal (8th, 56.1%), three-point field goal (1st, 46.5%) and free throw (5th, 84.8%) percentages.
A third team College Sports Communicators Academic All-American last season, Angel holds a 3.99 grade point average in economics and is completing an honors thesis this year analyzing the impact of school closures on academic achievement, a process that includes data collection and cleaning, regression analysis and a literature review. Additionally, he has participated in team community service programs, including youth basketball camps in the Bay Area and the Bahamas and reading to elementary school students.
Angel is also a member of the NABC Honors Court (2023) and a two-time selection to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (2022, 2023).
In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport's regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award. A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12's 24 sponsored sports.