The common stereotypical athlete plays their sport all day long, morning, afternoon, and late into the night. Grades supersede the dream of being a professional at their given sport, with the dream of making loads of money.

When the boy’s basketball team is on the court, they excel by playing ball, but they are successful in the classroom as well.

These players show true determination as they focus on making good grades and improving their game. Settling for mediocre is not an option.

Being a student athlete is not easy. For many athletes, making a B is like making an A. Although this may be the case, these outstanding athletes consider B’s to be D’s.

Characteristics which describe seniors Nathan Seward, Drew Burnett, Austin Cote, Peter Ellwanger, and Daniel Lynch.

These scholars are members of the National Honor Society and, all but Lynch, are in DECA, or Distributive Education Clubs of America.

These players will be named to the All State Academic Team, which is an amazing accomplishment in itself.

Senior Nathan Seward is ranked 4th in his class and broke the school record for total made 3 point shots this season. He plans to major in Petroleum Engineering and now that he is moving on to bigger things, he plans to focus more on school than basketball and does not plan on continuing his basketball career.

For Nathan, he knew hard work in the classroom and the court would pay off in the long run. “It was a little stressful at times but i have great teachers and great teammates that make it easier,” Nathan has a successful future of ahead of him.

Senior Austin Cote, who is ranked number 15 in the 2015 senior class, was a senior leader on the team. He put whatever was best for the team in front of whatever was best for his well being. Austin puts 100% of his effort into his grades and his game on the court.

“I’ve just played so much basketball in my life that making improvements wasn’t something new that I had to adapt to,” Cote said, as he describes his experience of mixing his leadership involving basketball in with school.

“Since Junior High I’ve been the leader of this group of guys so it all just naturally fell into place, but grades have ALWAYS come first.”

Austin plans on taking his leadership in the classroom to Texas A&M and majoring in Oceanic Engineering. He does not plan on playing any future basketball.

Peter Ellwanger is another senior leader on the basketball team. Like Austin, he devotes himself to making good grades and doing what is best for his team rather than what is best for himself. Ellwanger is ranked 18 in his class.

“Just do your work,” he says while describing his work ethic. “Just do your work and you’ll be fine.”

Peter has been working hard since his season ended. He has been trying to stay in shape while working out with the future senior basketball team in hopes of following his dreams in playing college basketball. After Ellwanger leaves his West family, he plans on going to Texas A&M to study Business Management.

Drew Burnett is ranked 8 in his class. To say Drew is a hard worker is an understatement. Everything he does, he tries his best. Burnett was excited when he found out he was named to the All State Academic Team. He put so much time and effort into basketball that it was hard for him to find time for his school work.

“It feels good to be recognized for my hard work. There were a lot of late nights with no sleep. It was hard to find time for school work after 3 hours of basketball every day and on the weekends,” Burnett said.

A simple challenge was not enough to bring him down. Drew Burnett plans on hanging basketball up and moving on with his life. He plans on attending Texas A&M to major in mechanical engineering.

Last but definitely not least is Daniel Lynch, who is ranked 26 in the graduating senior class. When Daniel found out about making the All State Academic Team he was very excited.

“It feels good and I’m proud of myself,” Lynch struggled trying to make good grades and improve his basketball skills. “It was extremely difficult,” Daniel said.

Although this may have been difficult, he wants to challenge himself more by starting out with Intramural Basketball and working his way up to the Aggie basketball team. Daniel plans to go to A&M to major in sports marketing and broadcast.

These talented young men have found out that hard work truly pays off in the long run. While running low on sleep, these athletes dug down deep and found a way to exceed their expectations on the court and in class. These students are definitely role models that young people should look up to.

The future is bright and they will be greatly missed by their Mustang family.