Malina Howard (women’s basketball) and Varun Ram (men’s basketball) were named the University of Maryland’s inaugural Big Ten Medal of Honor award winners.

 

The Big Ten Medal of Honor is the conference's most exclusive award and was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had "attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work." Big Ten schools currently feature almost 9,500 student-athletes, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 100 years of the Medal of Honor, almost 1,400 student-athletes have earned this distinction.

 

 

 

Varun Ram

A reserve point guard on a Maryland squad which won a school-record 26 wins in the regular season in 2014-15, Ram is a leader both on and off the court for the Terps. The Clarksville, Md., native played in 21 games for Maryland and picked up a highlight-reel steal in the waning minutes of the Terps’ NCAA second round game against Valparaiso to secure the victory.

 

Ram, a physiology and neurobiology major, boasts a 3.952 grade point average and has been named to the Dean's List and Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll five times in addition to earning numerous all-conference academic honors.