CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE – Sam Schott of the University of Texas at Tyler softball program, has earned the Elite 90 Award for softball presented on Wednesday evening by the NCAA.
 
The ELITE 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships.
 
Athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and in their second year of competition at their institution and must be a member of the active roster at their respective NCAA Championship.
 
Schott, a senior from Longview, Texas, becomes the second UT Tyler athlete to win the award, joining Carel Wessel from 2024.
 
She holds a 4.0 GPA as a biochemistry major and recently received her degree from UT Tyler. She will now be attending UT Tyler School of Medicine as part of the inaugural class this fall.
 
Schott was named an NFCA and D2CCA First Team All-Region player earlier this season and has played an integral role in getting the Patriots to their fourth straight NCAA World Series appearance.
 
In 2024, she was named the LSC Softball Academic Player of the Year, and then earned the LSC Fred Jacoby Academic Player of the Year, which goes to the top academic athlete across all LSC women's sports.
 
This season she is hitting .351 while starting all 62 games thus far. She has 11 doubles, seven triples, five homers, 50 RBI, and 62 runs scored this season. She is slugging .616 and is getting on base at a .500 clip.
 
Schott will now set her sights on the opening game of the NCAA Division II World Series at 10 a.m. central time on Thursday against Western Washington in Chattanooga, Tennessee.