WORCESTER, Mass – Recent graduate Caleb Kenney of the Holy Cross men's basketball team has captured the 2024-25 Patriot League Award of Outstanding Leadership and Character when the League office announced honors on Monday.

Kenney is the third Crusader, the first since Declan Cronin '19 in 2018-19 and becomes the second men's basketball student-athlete to earn the accolade. He was joined by Colgate women's basketball's Sophia Diehl and Bucknell men's soccer's Jack Roberto as award winners. Administrators of the Patriot League's campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC) voted to select Kenney, Diehl, and Roberto.
 
The Patriot League established the Award of Outstanding Leadership and Character to recognize individuals who demonstrate excellence in leadership and service while participating in Patriot League athletics. One men's and one women's student-athlete have been recognized since the award's inception in 2011-12, with ties for the women's accolade twice in the last four years and a tie on the men's side for the first time.
 
Provided the minimum conduct standards are met, any Patriot League student-athlete or team is eligible for the award. The definition of leadership and character for this award includes but is not limited to any of the following ideals: demonstrated leadership on the "field" of competition and within the campus community; promotes a leadership vision for the betterment of one's team or teammates; mentorship of teammates; role model on campus; active participation in on-campus and/or community service projects; perseverance in overcoming hardships; demonstration of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.
 
"Caleb embodies maturity, development, selflessness and compassion in a way that can be utilized as an example for what (Holy Cross) should hope our students' model after four years," Holy Cross men's basketball head coach Dave Paulsen said. "It would be great to take a victory lap as an institution, highlighting the ways in which Holy Cross has fostered these traits within Caleb, but he exhibited most of these from the day he stepped on campus."
 
Kenney has been a force on the court for the Crusaders. The springy 6-6 forward broke out during the 2023-24 season to earn Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year honors. He finished his career as a two-time All-Patriot League and All-Defensive Team selection, ranking 17th in League history in blocked shots (156) while also finishing with 1,078 points, 599 rebounds and 100 steals. Still, his statistics were only part of his massive on-court contribution.
 
"Caleb willingly sacrificed his individual accolades for the good of the team," Paulsen said. "Despite playing with a cumbersome mask for the entirety of the season (after losing a tooth in the season-opener at Wisconsin), Caleb still averaged 11.6 PPG and pulled down 4.8 RPG. He leaves our program as one of the most versatile performers in the storied history of Holy Cross men's basketball."
 
His play helped Holy Cross win 13 regular-season games last season, its most since the 2018-19 season, despite being hard-hit by injuries to key players, particularly when the schedule moved to League play. Though his work remained important in helping to set the tone for a young team searching for its identity.
 
"Caleb was instrumental in helping begin a transformation within our men's basketball program," Paulsen said. "His leadership on and off the court has been essential to this progress."
 
The Richmond, Va. native's impact extended far from the court. Kenney was just as active and versatile in the community as he was on the court. He began serving as a volunteer for the Big Brother, Big Sister program, mentoring eighth graders at the Nativity School of Worcester early in his collegiate career. He spent three years as a volunteer with Working For Worcester, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing college students together to promote stronger community wellness by creating recreation infrastructure.
 
Kenney also started a food pantry at Worcester East Middle School, helping secure space to store food. He also used his platform to convince the Holy Cross athletics department to allow reduced ticket pricing for anyone donating targeted food items for the pantry, now in its second year. The two-year team captain and three-year SAAC representative also enlisted younger teammates to help with the food pantry at Worcester East Middle as a way to ensure the program's success after his graduation.
 
During the lead-up to the 2024 election, Kenney was an Engaged Athlete Fellow, working with The Team on a year-long project aimed at encouraging civic participation. He hosted a national web event featuring Olympians, WNBA players and politicians. He also hosted voter registration campaigns at Holy Cross' Luth Athletic Complex.
 
"Our program is unequivocally stronger in the hard-to-quantify but easy-to-recognize areas of work ethic, unselfishness, and team-first attitude," Paulsen said. "It is also stronger in the quantifiable areas of team academic performance, community service and on-court victories. Caleb's DNA is all over every area where our program has improved."
 
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