Flowers & Viens Named 2017 Student-Athletes of the Year
TAMPA, MARCH 15, 2018 – Record-breaking quarterback
Quinton Flowers (Miami) and All-America women's soccer player
Evelyne Viens (L'Ancienne-Lorette, Canada)
have earned more prestigious recognition after posting program records and boosting the Bulls' presence in the national collegiate sports landscape.
Flowers and Viens will be honored as the 2017 USF Male and Female Athletes of the Year at the Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame banquet on Wednesday, March 21. The event will take place at TPepin's Hospitality Centre from 6-8:30 p.m. and will honor a number of Bay Area standouts. Proceeds from the event help support Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay and youth sports throughout the region.
"Quinton and Evelyne are tremendous representatives of USF on and off the field and their accomplishments, both individually and in leading their teams to great success, are truly remarkable and will long be remembered," USF Director of Athletics
Mark Harlan said. "We are thrilled to recognize them and their contributions to our continued pursuit of excellence."
Flowers earned the recognition by cementing his legacy as one of the most accomplished players at his position in college football history.
In addition to breaking 42 USF career, season or game records, Flowers became just the fourth player in FBS football history to post 8,000 passing and 3,500 rushing yards in a career, joining a fraternity that includes Colin Kaepernick and Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.
The American Athletic Conference's career leader in total offense (11,802 yards), Flowers ranks ninth all-time in FBS history in quarterback rushing yards (3,672) and became one of only six players in FBS history to pass for 60 touchdowns and rush for 40 more in a career (71 pass TDs, 41 rushing TDs).
Flowers joined elite company during the 2017 season that saw the first Bull named to five national award watch lists reach new heights on the stat sheet. USF's all-time rushing leader passed Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow at the top of the state of Florida's career quarterback rushing chart and Flowers finished his Bulls career with a school record 18 games posting 300-plus total yards.
"I wasn't a follower. I started my own legacy," Flowers said.
What Flowers is most proud of is what USF accomplished during his time with the program.
USF went 2-10 in 2013 , the season prior to his arrival. Once Flowers gained the reins to the offense, the Bulls steadily climbed in the win column from eight in 2015 to a school record of 11 victories during his conference offensive player of the year season in 2016.
Flowers tied the program record for career wins by a quarterback (30) after helping USF go 21-4 the past two seasons with bowl game appearances in each of the past three years. The Bulls are one of just 14 programs to win 20-plus games over the past two seasons and one of just three to also win a pair of bowl games during that span.
Flowers set yet another school record with 605 total yards against UCF in a War on I-4 rivalry clash that was declared by Athlon as the greatest college game of the 2017 season. He went on to earn his second straight Birmingham Bowl MVP honor after leading USF to a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech, a 10-2 record and final AP Poll ranking of No. 21. The Bulls are currently riding a program record 20 straight appearances in the top 25, a string that also currently leads all schools in the state of Florida.
"The players have so much respect for him. They know they always have a chance to win when the ball is in No. 9's hands," head coach
Charlie Strong said. "He's a special player and the thing you look at is just how he carries himself on the field, as well as off the field. He's going to be really missed around here."
Exceptional character has always been present in Flowers, who has overcome a lifetime of adversity since he started playing football.
When Flowers was 7 years old, his father, Nathaniel, was killed in a drive-by shooting outside their home in Miami. At age 17, Flowers had to endure the loss of his super supportive mother, Nolita "Nancy" Mans, who died of cancer.
Three years after his mother passed, Flowers was a freshman preparing for his first-career start in 2014, when his oldest brother, Bradley Holt, was killed in a shooting in Miami.
Three seasons later, Flowers blew kisses in the sky to family members during his final game as a Bull that ended in fitting fashion. On his final play, the Birmingham Bowl MVP threw a 26-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to
Tyre McCants with only 16 seconds left, which capped Flowers' 417-yard, five-touchdown performance against the Big 12's Red Raiders.
"To have his last play as a touchdown pass is just perfect. It's poetic in so many ways," USF Director of Athletics
Mark Harlan said.
Viens earned the award by turning in a stellar sophomore season that saw the L'Ancienne-Lorette, Canada native become the first All-American in USF women's soccer history. Viens was named to the United Soccer Coaches third team after ranking 14
th nationally in points per game (1.74) and helping the Bulls capture their first American Athletic Conference Championship title.
"You earn that and you deserve that. I think our program is starting to get to a point where we're earning that and deserving those recognitions," head coach
Denise Schilte-Brown said. "Evelyne kind of tipping that scale for us is really, really important."
Viens broke new ground for USF women's soccer after racking up a team-best 12 goals, 33 points and 87 shots. Among her 12 goals were six game-winners, which rank at the top of USF's season history chart. Players like Viens have helped USF women's soccer reach the NCAA tournament in three of the last four seasons and become a staple in the national top 25 rankings, reaching a program record high of No. 14 during the 2016 season.
Aside from her goal-scoring ability, Viens opened more eyes in the soccer world by leading The American with nine assists this past season and already ranks seventh in USF history with 13 career assists. Viens was also one of 22 members of the women's soccer team to earn USF Athletics Academic Honor Roll recognition in the fall as the program posted an 89 percent or better Graduation Success Rate for the 10
th straight year.
"Rarely in my career have I seen such a selfless goal-scorer," Schilte-Brown said. "It's a position where you almost have to assume a persona of selfishness because you've got to have that drive to score goals. She's very unique in that way and she embodies what we want from our student-athletes."
Viens' team-first approach helped USF knock off top-seeded UCF in The American's championship match in Orlando, where the Bulls conquered the Knights in penalty kicks. Viens then scored in USF's 3-0 victory over Florida Gulf Coast University that sent the Bulls to the second round of the NCAA tournament for just the second time in program history.
With two more seasons to go in green and gold, the former American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year is tied for fourth on USF's career goals chart (28). Siri Nordby's school record of 41 goals is now within sight and Viens will be determined to lead the Bulls' mission of making the program's second return trip to the NCAA tournament in 2018.
Schilte-Brown is proud to see Viens' efforts being recognized with Flowers' record-breaking accomplishments at the Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame banquet that attracts many stars to the Bay Area each year.
"I love to see women's soccer on this platform because in this country the girls are playing soccer the most," Schilte Brown said. "It's absolutely supported her at USF as an elite sport and it's great for the community and for the female movement in general to have Evelyne on that platform with Quinton."
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men's and women's teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls' athletic program celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, having begun with a men's soccer contest in 1965. Nearly 500 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 13 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including four in 2016-17, and own 110 conference championships overall. Ten USF programs reached national post-season competition in the 2016-17 season and nine were ranked in the Top 25 nationally. The Bulls posted a program-record 86 percent Graduation Success Rate in 2016, logged an annual department grade-point average over a 3.0 for the second straight year, and saw 106 student-athletes earn their degree during the 2016-17 academic period.
– #GoBulls –
