RICHARDSON, Texas - UT Dallas cross country and track & field standout Devan Bailey has been selected as the American Southwest Conference Man of the Year for the 2023-24 season.

The ASC Man and Woman of the Year honors are presented to graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community and campus service, and leadership. Selected by the Council of Senior Woman Administrators, the Man and Woman of the Year awards are among the highest individual honors presented to a student in the conference.

Bailey, a graduate student from Waterford, Pa., graduated in 2023 Summa Cum Laude and with a 4.00 grade point average in Mathematics. He finished his Master's of Science in Statistics with a 3.95 GPA in May 2024. 

Bailey was a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection and an Academic All-America Second Team honoree in 2023-24. He was on the 2023-24 ASC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Team in track and a was a four-time Academic All-ASC recipient. Bailey was a 2022-23 Chi Alpha Sigma inductee, National Merit Scholarship recipient and won Best Use of Statistical Analysis as a team at the American Statistical Association DataFest at SMU in 2022.

He captured five individual conference wins at the ASC Track & Field Championships during his career. Bailey won the 5,000 meters twice and 10,000 meters three times, including a school record performance in the 10K in 2023. He was also a three-time All-ASC Second Team member in cross country, helping the Comets capture titles in 2020-21 and 2023.
 
"My experience as a scholar-athlete at UTD tested and strengthened my commitment to excellence," said Bailey. "I came to UTD as a National Merit Scholar majoring in Mathematics. Balancing and finishing a Bachelor's and Master's degree within the four years provided by my scholarship while also training rigorously for my sport was difficult. However, it was achievable. With the generous and unwavering support of my coaches and team, I became an Academic All-American, a three-time 10,000-meter champion, a two-time 5,000-meter champion, a two-time team conference champion in cross country, and, most importantly to me, graduated with a Master's degree in Statistics. At the same time, as one of the senior members of the team, I mentored my teammates on their college experience, giving academic, athletic, and life advice. Overall, my experience at UTD has shown me that personal discipline and a supportive community can lead one to greater heights than they could have imagined."

Bailey is the first ASC Man of the Year from UT Dallas in the three-year history of the award.

Senior tennis player Rebecca Jackson was the Comets' nominee for ASC Woman of the Year.

ASC Release