UMD Bulldogs "ALLETE" Moments: Classroom
Throughout this year, UMD Athletics is partnering with Minnesota Power, ALLETE to highlight the Bulldogs accomplishments in the 3 C's: Classroom, Competition, Community.
University of Minnesota Duluth senior basketball standout Austin Andrews has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference recipient of the 2025 Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award.
The Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence, in its 41st year, recognizes the NSIC's top male student-athlete and Andrews is the second Bulldog in as many years to earn the distinguished honor (UMD football's Arik Johnson won it in 2024).
Andrews, a native of Eden Prairie, Minn., majored in civil engineering at the UMD. The Eden Prairie High School graduate holds a 3.95 grade point average while excelling in basketball for
the Bulldogs.
A NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award honoree, Andrews is a three-time College Sports Communicator Academic All-District Team member, as well as a four-time NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence member. In the summer of 2024, he was an intern for Meyer Borgman Johnson, Structural Engineering where he assisted in design and analysis of structures including projects such as the new University of St. Thomas Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, Minneapolis City Hall, and new Student Housing at Arizona State University.
On the court, Andrews started in all 29 games this season for the Bulldogs. He tallied 309 total points and 163 total rebounds, leading the team in field goal percentage (63.6%). He finished his career third all-time in rebounding at UMD with 893 and eighth in scoring with 1,711 points. His 63.6% field goal percentage also ranked third in school history as he helped UMD to a 103-39 record in his five seasons with the Bulldogs. In 2020-21, Andrews was named NSIC North Division Freshman of the Year and in the 2021-22 season he was named NSIC North Division Player of the Year. An All-NSIC First Team member in 2021-22, Andrews finished second in the league in scoring and rebounding.
On campus and in the community, Andrews was a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) where he represent the men's basketball team in collaboration with all student athletes to promote opportunity for all student-athletes; protecting student-athlete welfare and fostering a positive student-athlete image; and helped develop and support UMD's Green Bandana Project providing awareness for mental health. He has worked with Salo's Showcase to train local Duluth youth for basketball while also developing relationships and acting as a mentor for the next generation. Andrews also volunteered at Feed My Starving Children, read at local elementary schools and volunteered to run basketball drills/
camps at elementary schools.
"Austin has been one of my easiest athletes to work with over the course of his career." said UMD instructor of civil engineering Travis Jensen. "He was always very responsible to take care of his course work and his communication with me was great. Austin also had an internship with a structural engineering company over the summer of 2024 and his expertise was noticeably higher after the experience. I had Austin in senior design and he (and his team) did a great job on the project. Austin has been a model student athlete: he is self-driven, friendly, respectful, and overall a good student. He is certainly deserving of this award."
Andrews joins Johnson (2024), Stephen Blackmarr (1998), Jesse Beckermann (1997) and Tom Aney (1988) as the only student-athletes from UMD to earn the NSIC Britton Award.
About Minnesota Power, ALLETE:
Our bold vision centers on our commitment to climate, customers and communities. We're a clean-energy leader under our EnergyForward strategy, already delivering 50% renewable energy ahead of all other Minnesota utilities. Now we're doubling down on that with a vision to deliver 100% carbon-free energy to customers reliably and affordably by 2050. Learn more at: https://www.mnpower.com/CarbonFreeEnergyVision
