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Former Â鶹ӳ»­ football standout Jordan Dobrich was named today as the Mountain West's Male Scholar Athlete of the Year for the 2015-16 season - the first such honor for a Wolf Pack student-athlete in the school's four-year history in the conference.

Dobrich, was a three-year team captain who helped the Wolf Pack to a 7-6 record and win in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl game to cap his senior season last fall. He graduated from the University in May with a 3.83 grade-point average and a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and he will begin studies in Â鶹ӳ»­'s MBA program this fall.

"It is an incredible honor to be named as the Mountain West's Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. I want to thank the conference and everyone at the University of Â鶹ӳ»­ for the opportunities I enjoyed as a student-athlete for the Wolf Pack. I am proud to be a Â鶹ӳ»­ alum and am excited for the next step in my academic career."

Established by the Mountain West Joint Council in 1999, the MW Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is the highest honor presented to a student-athlete by the conference. The award is bestowed annually to one male and one female who best exemplify the term "student-athlete" by achieving excellence in academics, athletics and community involvement over the course of their collegiate career. In addition to athletic achievement, recipients of the MW Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade-point average, demonstrate leadership, and exhibit good character and conduct on and off the playing field. Each honoree will receive a $2,500 postgraduate scholarship.

"We are incredibly proud of Jordan for receiving this great honor," said Â鶹ӳ»­ coach Brian Polian. "He represents all that is good about college athletics - he is a terrific person, an exceptional and accomplished student, and a talented athlete. This award is a fitting way to cap his career at the University of Â鶹ӳ»­."

In October, Dobrich was inducted to the 2015 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Class and was a finalist for the 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy, the so-called "Academic Heisman." He was the first Â鶹ӳ»­ player to ever earn the NFF Scholar-Athlete Award and was one of 12 in the country to earn it in 2015.

Dobrich was an Academic All-Mountain West Team member all four years of his collegiate career, 2012-2015, and was a two-time MW Scholar-Athlete. He was involved in Tau Beta Pi, the country's oldest and most prestigious honors engineering fraternity, and as the academic chair of Theta Tau, a professional coed engineering fraternity. Dobrich served as an undergraduate assistant for thermodynamics during the summer of 2015, while interning for Southwest Gas Corporation. Additionally, Dobrich was a member of the National Society of Leadership and a Golden Key Scholar.

Dobrich, from Magnolia, Calif., came to Â鶹ӳ»­ as a walk-on. He quickly earned a scholarship and played in 49 games during his Â鶹ӳ»­ career, recording 274 tackles with 3.5 sacks and 11.5 TFLs. He forced three fumbles, recovered two others and recorded two interceptions, including one that he returned for a touchdown.