Salem's Impact Stretches to Tuscaloosa Community
10/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By Scott Latta
UA Media Relations
This is the fifth of a six-part series of profiles on the University of Alabama's 2006 ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. At the University of Alabama, the tradition of success extends far beyond the field of play. Success in the classroom has long been a Crimson Tide staple and perhaps nothing better demonstrates that better than the fact that six Alabama student-athletes earned ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American honors last season, a mark that led the Southeastern Conference and ranked in top five among all Division I schools. Those six, Guido Arroyo, Ashley Bentley, Beth Mallory, Vlad Polyakov, Emeel Salem and Joseph Sykora will be honored before this weekend's Alabama-Ole Miss football game.
When Alabama baseball Head Coach Jim Wells gets a request for one of the Alabama baseball players to make an appearance in the community, he can pretty much tell you who it's going to be.
"Last year and certainly this year, Emeel Salem is one of the main guys where everyone wants a part of him because he's the returning star," Wells said. "Every request for a baseball player is usually Salem, whether he's speaking at a church or civic group or kids at a school, and how he balances that and maintains a GPA and is always able to come out and perform on a daily basis, it's amazing."
Salem, a senior from Birmingham, is one of the Tide's top returning hitters as the everyday centerfielder. An All-SEC and All-American selection, Salem led UA with a .356 batting average, 67 runs scored and 36 stolen bases last season.
Off the field, Salem has maintained a 3.9 GPA with concentrations in business and Spanish. He has made the past two SEC Academic Honor Rolls and was named the SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and to the 2006 SEC Good Works team while also being on the President's List and Dean's List throughout his career.
"It's a really big honor to be named an Academic All-American," he said. "It's just as much work off the field as it is on the field, and to finally get recognition for it is nice."
"(Balancing academics and baseball) is definitely a challenge. There's not much free time as it is because baseball takes up so much time, but the responsibilities I have are definitely worth it because of the satisfaction I get from it."
Wells knows that while Salem's actions on the field may secure the top spot in the Tide's lineup, it is his work off it that has made him the face of the Alabama baseball team.
"It's a great thing for the program when you recruit a student athlete like Salem because he makes us all look so good, because he's got a high GPA, he hits .350, he's involved in the community, and he presents himself in a positive manner," Wells said. "He's just a good solid kid that's a great student and a great ballplayer. He's kind of like the face of the program right now."
