Jones and Blake nominated for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship

April 10, 2025

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Maddie Jones of the Arkansas gymnastics team and Lawson Blake of the Razorback men’s basketball team have been nominated for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship by the University of Arkansas.

The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship has been presented by the Southeastern Conference since 1986 to the league’s top male and female scholar-athletes.

The Southeastern Conference will name the 2025 recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship on April 30.

Highlights of Arkansas’ nominees include:

MADDIE JONES, Arkansas, Gymnastics
Major: Supply Chain Management and Marketing

Two-time WCGA Scholar All-American
Three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient
Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President, 2024-25
Four-year SAAC member, two-year Executive Committee member
2024 All-SEC honoree on floor
Three-event competitor for Arkansas on bars, beam and floor
Added beam her junior season and was Arkansas’ 2024 MVP with a team-leading 421.788 points
Boasts career highs of 9.900+ on all three of her events: 9.950 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 9.975 on floor
Personal best of 9.975 on floor matches the school record
Competed in all but two meets dating back to her freshman season
Owns 41 career scores of 9.900+, nearly 40% of all her routines
Scored 9.850 or higher in 67% of her routines her 2022 rookie season, tied for the best percentage by any freshman in Arkansas history
Three-time SEC Community Service Team honoree

LAWSON BLAKE, Arkansas, Basketball
Major: Exercise Science

Carries a 3.737 GPA In Exercise Science and will be attending medical school
SEC Academic Honor Roll, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
Chancellor’s List 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
Champions Honor Roll 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
Dean’s List 2024
Serves on Arkansas’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Vice Chairman of the SEC Basketball Leadership Council
Serves as the SEC representative and chairman of the NCAA Student-Athlete Engagement Group
A member of the Arkansas Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Member of a basketball program that has reached three Sweet 16s in his four years
Was unable to play his senior year (2024-25) due to a season-ending Achilles tendon tear but was still an active member of the team as he served various roles at each practice and traveled for all road games
As a four-year walk-on, played in 18 games over his career
Two-time SEC Community Service Team member

The SEC provides the league’s male and female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $20,000 post-graduate scholarship. The 30 remaining male and female finalists for the award will also receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship.

The award recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from the 16 SEC institutions and are announced in April, as well as honored by the league membership in late May at SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla.

Last year’s McWhorter Award recipients were Lukas Engelhardt of the Ole Miss men’s tennis team and Elizabeth Franklin of the Razorbacks’ women’s soccer team.