CHICAGO (December 7, 2021) – Loyola University Chicago men's basketball student-athletes Tate Hall (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield-Central/Indianapolis) and Lucas Williamson (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) have been selected as candidates today for the 2021-22 Senior CLASS Award. 
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
 
Loyola and UCLA are the only two schools with multiple candidates for the men's award. 
 
Hall has been a key contributor since transferring to Loyola from the University of Indianapolis. The 6-foot-6 guard/forward was a Third Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in 2019-20 during his first season with the Ramblers. Hall contributed 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game and shot 42.6 percent (58-for-136) from three-point range in 2019-20 and after helping the Ramblers to MVC regular season and tournament championships in 2020-21, has been a key player off the bench this season as Loyola has gotten off to a 7-2 start. Through nine appearances this season, Hall is putting up 5.6 ppg and 5.2 rpg and connecting on 45 percent (9-for-20) of his three-point shots. 
 
A member of the MVC Honor Roll, Hall has also been a two-time DI-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team selection and in 2019-20 was named MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team.
 
Williamson has been one of the best defensive players in The Valley since he arrived on campus and in his career, the Chicago native has helped the program to 106 wins, three MVC regular season championships, and three postseason appearances, including a NCAA Final Four and a NCAA Sweet 16. The 6-foot-4 guard, who is a two-time MVC All-Defensive Team pick in his career, was tabbed MVC Defensive Player of the Year in 2020-21 and also garnered Second Team All-MVC recognition.
 
This season has been Williamson's best at the offensive end of the floor and he enters tonight's game versus Roosevelt averaging 12.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.8 apg and 1.3 spg. A starter in 75 consecutive contests, he needs just nine points to become the 45^th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.
 
Off the court, Williamson has been a member of the MVC Honor Roll and he recently completed work as a co-writer and narrator of a documentary titled "The Loyola Project," which will premiere in February.
 
The men's and women's candidates will be narrowed to two fields of ten finalists later in the season and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will then select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition.
 
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2022 NCAA Men's Final Four and NCAA Women's Final Four this spring.
 
For more information, please visit www.seniorclassaward.com.