INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - - Belmont University men’s basketball player Justin Hare has been awarded a coveted educational grant through the NCAA postgraduate scholarship program. The Cleveland, Tenn. native was one of 58 student-athletes who participated in NCAA winter sports - men's and women's basketball, men’s and women’s gymnastics, women’s ice hockey, women’s rifle, men’s skiing, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and wrestling – selected as a 2007-08 Postgraduate Scholarship Award winner.

Hare was one of only three NCAA Division-I men’s basketball players chosen to receive a postgraduate scholarship, joining Drew Streicher of Butler University and Jack Leasure of Coastal Carolina University. 29 male and 29 female student-athletes from Divisions I, II and III were selected from a deep and distinguished candidate pool. Each will receive a one-time, nonrenewable grant of $7,500.

Hare’s on-court accomplishments are many: leading scorer for the three-time defending Atlantic Sun Conference champions, a three-time NCAA Tournament participant, Mid Major Most Valuable Player by CollegeInsider.com, two-time Atlantic Sun Tournament Most Valuable Player and two-time First Team All-Atlantic Sun selection.

Moreover, the 6-2 guard was a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, three-time Academic All-District honoree, and four-time Atlantic Sun All-Academic selection.

Hare sports a 3.87 GPA in his major of exercise science and health promotion. He will earn his undergraduate degree next week before pursuing medical school at Lincoln Memorial University.

He becomes the third Belmont student-athlete to receive an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, joining former men’s basketball player Adam Mark and former men’s tennis and soccer player Marcos Cabrera.

In addition to the winter sport honorees, the NCAA also awards 116 postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes participating in fall and spring sports in which the NCAA conducts championships or participates in as an emerging sport, for a total of 174 postgraduate scholarships annually.

To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall grade-point average of 3.200 (on a 4.000 scale) or its equivalent, and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete was nominated. The student-athlete must have behaved, both on and off the field, in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics. The student-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student. The award recipients are selected by the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee.