The Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar award is a part of Diverse‘s quarter-century legacy of recognizing outstanding minority young men and women who have distinguished themselves in their academic and athletic pursuits.
In addition to their athletic ability, the students named 2021 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars are students of color who have maintained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5, are at least a sophomore academically and have been active on their campuses or in their communities. Of the close to 1,000 scholar athletes nominated, ten female athletes and ten male athletes are chosen as finalists. Meet the female finalists below:
Water polo player Riley Agerbeek, a senior justice studies major at San José State University, achieved her best season statistically in 2020, scoring 18 goals in 12 matches for the San José State water polo team. Agerbeek is a two-time Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic team honoree and was a member of the 2018, 2019 and 2020 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches all-academic teams. She is currently serving as team representative on the San José State University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the second year in a row and is the SAAC publicity chair for the 2020-21 academic year.
