Outside the Ring – 4th Ranked Ryan Hotchkiss

UTEP Punter Ryan Hotchkiss One of Six Finalists For Wooden Cup Award

UTEP senior punter Ryan Hotchkiss is one of six finalists for the third annual Coach Wooden Citizen Cup, an award given for good citizenship among athletes.

The Wooden Cup is given to a collegiate and a professional athlete who have made the greatest difference in the lives of others. The award recipients will be announced at a ceremony held at Atlanta’s Ansley Golf Club on Thursday, Jan. 25.

Past recipients of the award include Peyton Manning and John Smoltz. The award was founded by Athletes for a Better World, a non-profit organization.

The Denver Broncos’ John Lynch has been named the 2007 Professional Wooden Cup recipient. Finalists for the collegiate division award include Hotchkiss, Anna Key (women’s soccer, University of California), Eric Leroux (men’s ice hockey, Princeton University), Parker Dalton (baseball, Texas A&M University), Carl Pendleton (football, University of Oklahoma) and Kandia Batchelor (women’s track and field, Florida State University).

The Wooden Cup is named in honor of John Wooden, one of the most successful coaches in collegiate basketball history. Wooden’s legacy as a compassionate, civic-minded individual continues to make him one of the most admired coaches in the history of collegiate sports.

Recipients of the Coach Wooden Citizen Cup are chosen by a committee of distinguishable individuals involved in professional and collegiate athletics across the country. The committee chairman is Vincent Dooley, former athletic director at the University of Georgia.

Hotchkiss served as UTEP’s punter for the last two seasons. In October, 2006 he received a proclamation from the Mayor and City Hall of El Paso recognizing him for his contributions and service to the community. He has personally logged over 2,000 hours with the Child Crisis Center over the last two years, including volunteering with the children, tutoring, and providing them with his allotment of tickets to Miner football games. He has been involved with the Big Brother Big Sister program, providing two children ages nine and 10 with birthday parties, Halloween costumes, Christmas presents and other items. Hotchkiss has also served as president of UTEP’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Article courtesy of www.utepathletics.com