NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State women's basketball student-athlete Mary Crompton was awarded the Robert G. Bone Scholarship for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year, as announced by the university on Monday morning. The Bone Scholarship, the highest university-wide honor given to undergraduate students, includes a monetary award from the Bone Scholarship endowment. Recipients of the award will also be featured in a display at the Bone Student Center.
Crompton is just the fourth women's basketball player ever to be honored as a Bone Scholar and the first in over 22 years. She joins the elite group of Valarie (Trame) Higginbotham (1994-98), Mary Jane (Johnson) Hibben (1992-96) and Beth (Landes) Ehresman (1977-81) who were tabbed Bone Scholars while playing for the Redbirds.
The Iowa City, Iowa, native holds a 4.0 grade-point average while majoring in Physiology, Neuroscience and Behavior and minoring in Chemistry. She is on course to graduate in just three years in May 2021 and plans to pursue her master's degree at Illinois State while finishing her athletic eligibility.
"I am so honored to be recognized as a Bone Scholar," said Crompton. "I've always placed great value on the academic aspect of being a student-athlete, and it means a lot to be included on a list of such prestigious students at Illinois State."
Crompton played in all 29 games in her first complete season as a Redbird this past year, getting the start in 22. The redshirt freshman averaged 9.0 points and 29.0 minutes per game while shooting 37.2 percent (87-of-234) from the floor. A three-point specialist, 182 of Crompton's 234 attempted shots on the year were from deep. Crompton set a new freshman record in three-pointers made in a season, knocking down 68 triples on 37.4 percent (38-of-182) shooting.
"We are filled with pride to see Mary honored as a Bone Scholar for the 2020-21 academic year," said head coach Kristen Gillespie. "Mary is the epitome of the student-athlete and it takes an incredible work ethic to be so successful academically while playing basketball at the collegiate level. She is a dedicated teammate on and off the court and we're so excited to see what else her future holds here at Illinois State."
Bone Scholars are selected through a rigorous campus-wide competition based on their scholarly achievements and their engagement and leadership in activities in the university community and beyond. Invited finalists submit a comprehensive portfolio including several essays and statements, a project, and five letters of recommendation. The mean grade point average of this year's Bone Scholars is 3.96 on a 4.0 scale.
Crompton, along with track & field/cross country student-athlete Jake Gillum, become the fifth and sixth student-athletes to be named Bone Scholars in just the last four years. They are also the 28th and 29th Redbird student-athletes in history to earn the scholarship named after the late Illinois State University President Robert G. Bone. The Karin L. Bone Athletics Study Center, which supports the academic endeavors of Illinois State student-athletes, is named in honor of the late Illinois State first lady.
Bone Scholars are students who combine broad and excellent academic achievement with campus and community engagement, while displaying outstanding qualities of character and leadership. The complete list of 2020-21 Bone Scholars can be found here.
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