Nashville, Tenn. – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has announced that Belmont senior golfer John Baldwin has received a one-year paid internship at the NCAA national office for the 2006-07 school year. He is one of 14 recipients from around the country to receive this internship and is the first Belmont student-athlete to be chosen for this honor.

“I am honored that I have been chosen to work at the NCAA national office,” said Baldwin, a Winchester, Kentucky native. “I am also thankful to Belmont for what the University has given me over the past four years. What I have learned here at Belmont has really prepared me as I move ahead to my role at the NCAA.”

Baldwin, a Finance major who will graduate this month, is a four-year letterwinner on the Belmont men’s golf team. During the 2005-2006 season, John has posted two top-20 finishes, including a career best fifth place showing at ReMax/UTC Fall Classic last October. In addition to his work on the course, Baldwin has become a campus leader. He is the men’s golf team representative on Belmont’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has been a part of numerous activities and projects that committee and planned and implemented. Baldwin also earned the Athletic Department's Director of Athletics Character Award.

"Belmont Athletics is very excited about John's opportunity to Intern with the NCAA next year,” said Betty Wiseman, Belmont Assistant Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator. “John has been an outstanding student-athlete as a member of our men's golf team. His leadership role as a member of our Student Athlete Advisory Committee, along with his participation at an NCAA Regional Leadership Conference in Atlanta, gave him valuable insight into the governance of the NCAA. I am confident John will enjoy this experience and be a good ambassador of Belmont Athletics and the Atlantic Sun Conference."

Baldwin will begin his one-year paid internship with the NCAA starting in June. He will work in the area of administrative services, working with budgeting, grants, and championships. For more information on the NCAA Internship Program, go the NCAA website at www.ncaa.org.