TYLER, TEXAS – Thierry Assamoi of men's soccer and Riley Jepson of baseball have been named the 2020-21 Co-Male Athletes of the Year as part of the UT Tyler Athletics Annual Awards.
 
Assamoi was named a First Team All-Lone Star Conference selection and Jepson a Second Team All-Lone Star Conference selection as both individuals were leaders on the field for their respective squads throughout the spring semester. Assamoi and Jepson have been named the Co-Male Athletes of the Year following a vote by the UT Tyler head coaches.
 
Assamoi played in nearly every minute of every match for the UT Tyler men's soccer team in a shortened 10 game spring schedule for the Patriots. He served as consistently one of the Patriots best defensive options all season long, and was a key cog to a Patriot back line of defense that forced three straight 1-0 shutouts to finish off the regular season and qualify for the program's first ever appearance in the 2021 Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament.
 
His biggest moment of the season came as the most important assist of the year for the Patriots on a cross in the 100^th minute of the final regular season contest for the Patriots against DBU. That cross gave Sergio Sola a near-perfect opportunity to score the golden goal and effectively clinch the final spot in the LSC Postseason Tournament for the Patriots with a 1-0 win back on Apr. 6.
 
Assamoi was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week following that heroic effort to cap off the third straight 1-0 win for UT Tyler to clinch a postseason berth.
 
The Birkdale, United Kingdom native continued to excel into that tournament despite a 2-0 opening round loss for the Patriots at the hands of eventual-champion West Texas A&M, and was named to the Spring 2021 Men's Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team. He finished the 2021 spring season with two points on the game-winning assist against DBU and a total of 13 shots for the year.
 
Jepson was statistically the Patriots best bat all season long in 2021, finishing the year with a .353 average and a Second Team All-LSC selection. He led the Patriots to a record of 25-15 in the program's potential final year of the Division II transition period, and was consistently recognized as one of the top offensive weapons in the LSC.
 
He led the club in a variety of offensive categories including RBI (40), runs (43), doubles (9) and hits (55). The Kamloops, British Colombia native had 15 multi-hit games in his 40 starts in 2021, and finished 12^th in the Lone Star conference with 40 RBI.
 
He also displayed his versatility at the plate in 2021, moving all around the Patriot lineup before eventually settling into a leadoff role despite beginning the season in the heart of the order. That flexibility for Jepson proved vital for the UT Tyler offense in the late stages of the 2021 season as he alongside Male Comeback Player of the Year Kyler Bumstead formed one of the best one-two punches in the LSC at the top of the batting order.
 
Jepson concluded a stellar two-year career for UT Tyler after transferring in from the University of Fraser Valley, leading the Patriots in batting average in both 2020 and 2021.
 
A fill list of the UT Tyler Athletics Annual Awards is located below.
 
2020-21 UT Tyler Athletics Annual Awards Winners

Men's Team Scholastic Award (Men's Tennis)
Women's Team Scholastic Award (Women's Tennis)
 
Male Scholar of the Year (Zachary Tucker)
Female Scholar of the Year (Danielle Lacasse)
 
SAAC Member of the Year (Chloe Chawner)

Male Comeback Player of the Year (Kyler Bumstead)
Female Comeback Player of the Year (Chloe Chawner)
 
Top Male Individual Single-Game Performance (Jan Lucca Marquardt)
Top Female Individual Single-Game Performance (Summer Grubbs)
 
Male Freshman Athlete of the Year (Egor Shestakov)
Female Freshman Athlete of the Year (Courtney Plocheck)
 
Male Service & Leadership Award (Trey Davis)
Female Service & Leadership Award (Chloe Chawner)

Female Athlete of the Year (Summer Grubbs)
Co-Male Athletes of the Year (Thierry Assamoi, Riley Jepson)