Portsmouth, New Hampshire, senior cornerback recognized by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education for performance on the field and in the classroom
2018 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar Awards Announcement
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education - April 2018 Issue
EASTON, Mass. (April 10, 2018) – Stonehill College senior defensive back Donovan Phanor (Portsmouth, New Hampshire/Portsmouth) has been named an Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar semifinalist as published in the April edition of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine. He was also placed on the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar first team for football, which includes minority student-athletes from all levels of collegiate football.
Diverse: Issues In Higher Education sponsors the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Awards to honor minority undergraduate students who have excelled in the classroom as well as on the athletic field. Inspired by tennis legend Arthur Ashe, Jr.'s commitment to education as well as his love for the game of tennis, U.S. colleges and universities are invited to participate in this annual awards program by nominating their outstanding sports scholars. In addition to their athletic ability and academic performance, Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars demonstrate a commitment to community service and student leadership.
Phanor, who has earned a 3.66 cumulative grade point average as a finance major, is one of five NCAA Division II student-athletes, and the only one from the Northeast-10 Conference, to achieve Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar semifinalist status and one of two named to the Ashe Sports Scholar football first team and one of three Division II student-athletes selected to the four teams overall, and lone NE10 representative. In addition to his athletic and academic efforts, Phanor is highlighted in the magazine for having received the 2018 Edward S. Vaughn, Jr. Award for Community Service for his role as Vice President of Community Service for Beta Alpha Psi, Mu Omega Chapter, of which he has been a member since 2016. He has also volunteered his time with My Brother's Keeper, and the Special Olympics at Stonehill, Easton Children's Museum, Coaching4Change gala and DECA Conference. Phanor has been a member of MOSAIC Dialogue Group since 2015 and a student mentor at the Bigelow Middle School in Newton, Massachusetts.
Phanor is a two-time NE10 Academic All-Conference selection for Stonehill, earning a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District I first team this past fall. He has been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll all seven semesters at the College, to date, and Athletic Director's Honor Roll status five semesters. He was named a National Football Foundation (NFF)/Joe Yukica New Hampshire Chapter High School Scholar-Athlete following his senior year at Portsmouth High.
Phanor finished his senior season in the fall ranked third among Stonehill's leaders in tackles with 48, including 31 solo, in ten games. He also posted 1.0 tackles for a loss of three yards, an interception, three pass breakups, and a fumble recovery. Phanor recorded six or more tackles five times this season, totaling a career-high matching nine stops (career-best seven solo), with an interception and a fumble recovery in the Skyhawks 38-27 win over American International College in his final collegiate game on November 11 to earn NE10 Defensive Player of the Week accolades for the second time in his career.
Phanor played 42 games over his career at Stonehill, starting at corner his last three seasons. He finished with 140 tackles, including 92 solo, with 3.0 tackles for a loss of seven yards, six interceptions, 19 pass breakups, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries, ranking fifth in program history for career pass breakups. He also earned NE10 Defensive Player of the Week honors following the Skyhawks season-opening win over Bloomsburg (Pa.) University in 2015, also collecting the New England Football Writers Division II/III Gold Helmet Award following the seven tackle performance in which he added an interception, fumble recovery and pass breakup.
Stonehill capped its 2017 season with a 6-4 record overall, marking its third finish above .500 over the last five years, including a 5-4 mark in the NE10, with its fourth winning season in Conference play over the last six years. The Skyhawks annual spring game is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, at 4 p.m.
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