Emory University and a senior’s last buzzer: Ben Pearce’s Jostens Trophy moment

At Emory University, the end of a season can feel like a door closing softly—practice shoes by a locker, a quiet gym after a long year, and a senior player learning what it means to carry a team’s story. That threshold became public this week when guard Ben Pearce was named a 2026 Jostens Trophy recipient, a national honor that recognizes Division III players for basketball ability, academic achievement, and community service.

What is the Jostens Trophy, and why does it matter?

The Jostens Trophy is presented annually by the Rotary Club of Salem and sponsored by Jostens Inc. It is designed to recognize the most outstanding men’s and women’s Division III basketball players of the year. Its criteria are explicit and wide-ranging: performance on the court, strength in the classroom, and service to surrounding communities—an attempt to reward the kind of “whole” student-athlete Division III schools often point to as their north star.

In the same announcement cycle, Washington and Lee University women’s basketball player Mary Schleusner ’26 was also named a 2026 Jostens Trophy recipient. The pair emerged from a field that included 22 national finalists.

How did Ben Pearce’s season put Emory University back in the spotlight?

Pearce’s case was built on a senior campaign described as record-breaking. He was named the University Athletic Association (UAA) Player of the Year and averaged over 24 points per game. Over the arc of his career, he became Emory’s all-time leading scorer and surpassed 2, 000 career points—benchmarks that place a player not only inside a season’s success, but inside a program’s memory.

His impact, as framed by the award’s recognition, was not confined to scoring. The Jostens Trophy’s evaluation emphasizes excellence beyond basketball alone, spotlighting academic achievement and community service alongside the on-court résumé. For Emory University, Pearce’s selection reads as both an individual pinnacle and a reflection of the Division III ideal the trophy tries to preserve.

What does “well-rounded” look like in Mary Schleusner’s and Ben Pearce’s careers?

For Schleusner, the 2026 honor adds to a season already crowded with recognition. She was named the D3hoops. com Division III Women’s Player of the Year and earned First Team All-America honors from both D3hoops. com and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). She also received D3hoops. com First Team All-Region honors for the fourth time and was named the Region 6 Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. Across the year, she appeared on the D3hoops. com Team of the Week and was selected as the U. S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Player of the Week on four occasions.

At the conference level, she was named Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Player and Defensive Player of the Year, while earning First Team All-ODAC honors for the fourth time in her career. She collected eight ODAC weekly awards—five Offensive Player of the Week honors and three Defensive Player of the Week accolades.

reflecting the award’s human dimension, Schleusner thanked the Rotary Club of Salem and Jostens for the recognition and emphasized the people around her. “This recognition is a reflection of those who have supported me along the way, ” Schleusner said. “I share this honor with everyone who has helped me throughout my basketball career. I’m so grateful for my teammates, coaches and the staff at Washington and Lee. Your belief in me and constant support have meant everything, and I wouldn’t be here without you. ”

Washington and Lee’s athletics leadership also framed her selection as a measure of impact, not simply output. Jan Hathorn, Michael F. Walsh Director of Athletics and Physical Education, called Schleusner “the quintessential model of all that is good and cherished in Division III athletics, ” adding that her influence has been “enormous, on so many levels. ” Head women’s basketball coach Brittany Kemp also underscored that numbers “only scratch the surface” of Schleusner’s broader effect on the program and community, even as the season’s awards placed her performance in the national conversation.

Pearce’s story is told through similar themes of breadth and leadership. His recognition as a Jostens Trophy recipient places Emory University inside a national frame that rewards service and academics as part of athletic excellence—an insistence that a player’s legacy should be read across more than a stat line.

What comes next after the trophy?

The Jostens Trophy is often spoken about as a culminating honor, but it also functions as a handoff—from private work to public acknowledgment, from daily repetition to a wider audience. Schleusner became the first Washington and Lee basketball player to win the award since it began in 1998, and she is the third player in ODAC history and the first since 2015 to earn it, joining Megan Silva of Randolph-Macon College and Jess Rheinheimer of Eastern Mennonite. Those markers place her achievement inside a longer Division III timeline.

For Emory University, Pearce’s selection similarly stands as a program milestone: a senior season that rewrote records, a conference player-of-the-year title, and a national award that insists the person matters as much as the performance. Awards do not capture the full weight of a final season, but they can crystallize what teammates and coaches often talk about in fragments—leadership, consistency, and the ability to represent a community beyond the gym.

And when the gym does go quiet again, the meaning changes. The same space that once held pressure now holds proof: that at Emory University, a player’s last stretch can be remembered not only for points and wins, but for the broader standard the Jostens Trophy is built to recognize.