PEMBROKE – NCAA national qualifier Benedetta Pepe Pugliese was decorated with Female Student-Athlete of the Year accolades, while first team All-Conference and All-Region selection Bradlee Haskell raked in Male Student-Athlete of the Year laurels, as the UNC Pembroke athletics department welcomed back its nearly 400 student-athletes on Monday evening inside the Givens Performing Arts Center (GPAC).

Baseball’s Seth Willis and women’s basketball’s Stella Mollica took home the Male and Female Newcomer recognitions, while men’s basketball’s head coach Drew Richards picked up the Dan Kenney Coach of the Year Crown. The awards put a wrap on the 2024-25 Golden Braves program which was held in April.

Pepe Pugliese took home the Conference Carolinas Championship title in the 200-yard breakstroke

See Full Page