June 7, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State baseball player Collin Salzenstein has shown the qualities that it takes to be successful in collegiate athletics - hard work and dedication, on-and-off the field. Due to his growing leadership, the senior-to-be has been named the recipient of the 2007-08 Duffy Bass Endowed Scholarship.
The Duffy Bass Endowed Scholarship is named after the late Redbird coach, who won 713 games during his illustrious coaching career from 1963 to 1988, a mark that stands as one of the best in Illinois State coaching history. The award is presented to a junior or senior baseball player who demonstrates the competitive spirit exemplified by Bass during his time at Illinois State as a student-athlete, teacher and coach.
Salzenstein made an immediate impact to the lineup in first season in a Redbird uniform, leading the team in steals (18) and sacrifice hits (10), while batting .250 with 46 hits and 11 RBI at the leadoff spot. The Barrington (Ill.) High School product played in 48 games, with 42 starts at shortstop and was steady defensively with a .938 fielding percentage.
Salzenstein was honored to be named the Duffy Bass Endowed Scholarship winner for 2007-08 as well as being able to play in this year's edition of the Horenberger-Bass Classic.
"It is a tremendous honor to be considered for an award named after a hall of fame coach," said Salzenstein. "I'm very grateful to be the recipient of this award. Being able to play in this year's game was a huge honor, and from what I learned about Coach Bass, he preached that you should play the game as hard as you can and with a lot of desire.
"I'm going to keep working as hard as I can in order to achieve the goals I have set out for myself - both on the field and in the classroom. I want to be able to help the team reach its goal as well as achieve the goals I have set out for myself. The only way I will be able to achieve both is to through hard work and dedication."
Head coach Jim Brownlee, who played on Bass' 1969 NCAA College Division National Championship team at ISU, believes that Salzenstein embodies what it means to be a true student-athlete.
"When I look at somebody for the award I look for the complete student-athlete, because Coach Bass had a doctorate degree," said Brownlee. "Collin fits that, he's a complete student-athlete. He does extremely well in the classroom, he's very conscientious and he does very well on the baseball field. We're very excited about having him in the program.
"He was a great addition for us this past spring, and he brought a lot to the table. I look forward for his senior leadership next year after being here for a year. He is really one of the best we've had so far with the Bass Endowed Scholarship, because of the way he is on-and-off the field."
The Duffy Bass Endowed Scholarship is one of 16 endowed scholarships available to Illinois State student-athletes funded by private donors. Though it is not one of the eight fully-funded endowed scholarships at ISU, the Duffy Bass Endowed Scholarship provides significant support for the recipient.
For more information about supporting this, or other Illinois State University endowments for student-athletes, call The Redbird Club office at (309) 438-3803.
