Varun Ram and Malina Howard have had different kinds of basketball careers at Maryland, yet their performance in the classroom was remarkably similar.
On Tuesday, Ram (River Hill) and Howard were named Maryland's inaugural Big Ten Medal of Honor award winners, given for the past 101 years to recognize students from each member school who had "attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work."
A double-major in physiology and neurobiology who will graduate on Monday, Ram carried a 3.95 GPA while playing in 21 games and helping the Terps reach the Round of 32 in the NCAA men's tournament with a last-second defensive stop in a win over Valparaiso. Ram announced recently that he would return to play his final season as a graduate student.
Howard started every game for a 34-3 Terps women's team that reached its second straight Final Four. The winner of this year's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, Howard will graduate in three years with a degree in kinesiology and was presented with the Elite 89 Award for having the highest GPA (3.798) of any player at the 2015 Final Four.
"Malina and Varun are two shining examples of the outstanding student-athletes we have at the University of Maryland," said Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson. "We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments both on the court and in the classroom and are thrilled that Malina and Varun will be continuing their education at Maryland following graduation in May. Each will undoubtedly continue to provide invaluable leadership to both our athletics department and entire campus community."