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Louisville’s Peyton Siva wins Big East Scholar-Athlete Sports Excellence Award

Big East Basketball Tournament - Louisville v Cincinnati

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: Peyton Siva #3 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrate after defeating the Cincinnati Bearcats during the finals of the Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden on March 10, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images)

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On Friday it was announced that Louisville point guard Peyton Siva won the Big East Scholar-Athlete Sports Excellence Award, which is awarded to one student-athlete in each of 24 sports sponsored by the conference.

Siva, who majors in sociology and has a cumulative GPA of 3.41, is the conference’s winner in men’s basketball.

Athletes are chosen based on their accomplishments within their sport, in the classroom and in the community.

The conference’s Faculty Athletics Representative Council makes the selections based on this criteria (student-athletes with a minimum GPA of 3.0 and junior standing are eligible).

Louisville led the way with seven recipients and Notre Dame came in second with five. Point guard Skylar Diggins, who helped lead Muffet McGraw’s team to the national title game, was one of the honorees for the Fighting Irish.

Siva helped lead the Cardinals to the Final Four this past season with averages of 9.1 points and 5.6 assists per contest, and was also named Big East Championship MOP after Louisville won their second Big East Championship.

In games in which Siva had five or more assists in a game the Cardinals went 22-3 last season according to Louisville’s sports information department.

His improved play down the stretch proved to be one of the keys for Rick Pitino’s team, and with a squad many expect to contend for a national title that will have to be the case once again in 2012-13.

Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.