(STILLWATER, Oklahoma / December 11, 2018) – Oklahoma State running back Justice Hill is the 2018 Big 12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Big 12 Conference announced Tuesday.

The honor marks the first time a Cowboy football player has received the distinction, which was established during the 2012-13 academic year and is determined by a vote of league’s head coaches.

Scholar-Athlete of the Year nominees must be a junior or senior (athletic and academic standing), have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher, participate in at least 20 percent of the team’s scheduled contests and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution.

Hill, who was also an Academic All-American and first team Academic All-Big 12 team selection this season, is a junior from Tulsa who is majoring in Finance and holds a 3.64 GPA.

On the field, Hill earned All-Big 12 First Team honors for a second consecutive year after rushing for 930 yards and nine touchdowns on 158 attempts this season.  He missed part of the 2018 regular season with an injury, but still put up 93.0 yards per game to rank among the conference leaders. After playing just under three seasons, Hill ranks fourth in OSU history at 98.63 career rushing yards per game and fourth in school history with 19 career 100-yard rushing games. He also ranks seventh all-time in rushing yards with 3,539 and rushing attempts with 632 while ranking eighth in rushing touchdowns with 30.

The Big 12 Conference gives a Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in each conference-sponsored sport. Every Big 12 institution nominates one individual per sport with the winners selected by a vote of the league head coaches for that sport, who are not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.

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The Cowboys head to Memphis, Tennessee later this month to wrap up the 2018 season at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on New Year’s Eve, with kickoff set for 2:45 p.m. CT on ESPN. Tickets are still available at www.okstate.com/tickets or by calling the OSU ticket office at 877-ALL-4-OSU.