STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton Athletics has announced that Deon Sheppard of Texan Football and Kylie Collins of Tarleton Women's Basketball are the December recipients of the 'Tarleton Student-Athletes of the Month' award, presented by Stephenville Apartments.
 
The student-athlete of the month is selected based on the all-around student-athlete for one male and one female. The student-athlete will show effort and excellence in academics, leadership, civility, dedication to the team, campus involvement, community service, and the ability to serve as role models for current and future Tarleton State University students and student-athletes.
 
To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must be nominated by their head coach or athletic administrator and maintain a grade point average of 2.75 or better. Only in-season athletes are eligible for the award each month.
 
Deon Sheppard and the Texans played into December by reaching the Super Region IV finals of the NCAA Division II playoffs. Tarleton enjoyed the greatest season in school history with its first outright LSC Championship and undefeated NCAA regular season. With Sheppard at the forefront of the offense, the Texans produced one of the most elite offensive units in the country and Tarleton history. Tarleton boasted the No. 5-ranked scoring offense in the country and the No. 3-ranked rushing offense. This produced the most 40-point performances in school history (9) in a season and the first set of teammates to each rush for 1,000 yards in a single season, en route to setting a new school record for single-season rushing yards (4,031). Tarleton also set new single-season records for rushing attempts (690), total offensive plays (977), total offense (6,709), first downs (301), touchdowns (79), and points scored (585). Sheppard was named the LSC Offensive Lineman of the Year and an All-American by D2CCA and the Associated Press.
 
Kylie Collins and the Tarleton Women's Basketball team went 3-1 in the month of December with an exhibition game left to play on Saturday at 2 p.m. Collins shot .412 from the floor and .357 from beyond the arc during the month of December while helping Tarleton win three straight over Arlington Baptist, St. Edward's and Arkansas-Fort Smith. Collins also dished out seven assists over those four games.
 
Once selected as student-athlete of the month, the recipients are eligible to be selected for Tarleton Student-Athlete of the Year award at the end of the season. The yearly award will be recognized at the beginning of the following fall semester.
 
The list of the year's complete award winners are as follows:

September:      Prince Robinson (Football) & Hannah McManus (Volleyball)
October:           Kyle Doty (Cross Country) & Adrianna Knutson (Volleyball)
November:       Quenten Lasseter (Cross Country) & Adriana Darthuy (Volleyball)
December:       Deon Sheppard (Football) & Kylie Collins (Women's Basketball)