PEMBROKE – All-American and current minor leaguer River Ryan was decorated with Male Student-Athlete of the Year accolades, while All-American and 2021 national player of the year finalist Tatum Brummitt raked in Female Student-Athlete of the Year laurels, as the UNC Pembroke athletics department welcomes back its nearly 400 student-athletes on Monday evening inside the Givens Performing Arts Center (GPAC).
 
Track & field's Orlandus Gamble and swimming's Gillian Manning took home Male and Female Newcomer of the Year recognition, while baseball skipper Paul O'Neil picked up the Dan Kenney Coach of the Year crown. The awards put a wrap on the 2020-21 Golden Braves program which was presented in a virtual format in April.
 
A presentation by Pembroke native and Scotland Health Care's Dr. Chamaine Brooks-Locklear highlighted the night for the annual event which was attended by all student-athletes, coaches and department staff. Brooks-Locklear held an informative session, which also included a question and answer portion, pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as facts and myths about the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
 
An everyday second baseman for the Black & Gold, Ryan claimed All-Peach Belt Conference laurels at three different positions in 2021, while also staking claim to all-America nods from two organizations, after hitting .349 with 21 extra base hits and a team-best 51 RBI, while also recording a 5-1 record, a 3.66 ERA and six saves as a lockdown closer on the pitching staff. A product of Huntersville, Ryan will now continue his baseball career at the professional level after being drafted in the 11th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft by the San Diego Padres.
 
A top-15 finalist for National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Player of the Year honors, Brummitt was a monster at the plate in 2021, hitting .485 and pacing the PBC in that column for a majority of the campaign. A first team all-America selection by two organizations, the Garner native logged 49 hits in 101 at-bats and tallied 13 doubles, two triples and crushed nine homers. She struck out just three times in 2021 – once in every 29 at-bats – while also turning in 19 multiple-hit and 11 multiple-RBI contests.
 
O'Neil's squad rolled to a conference regular season crown for the first time in program history in 2021 thanks, in large part, to a school record-matching 16-game win streak that consumed the month of March. The Black & Gold posted 29 victories on the way to earning a berth into the NCAA postseason for the third time in the last four full seasons, and O'Neil registered his 650th win as UNCP's head coach along the way as well.