SEATTLE (June 16) ­ Tony Binetti, a standout basketball player for Seattle Pacific University, has been selected the 2005-06 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year by a vote of the athletic directors.

Binetti (Sr., Enumclaw, Wa.) becomes the first SPU representative to win the award in its five-year existence. Distance runner Lindy Mullen of Central Washington was named the GNAC female honoree.

Binetti, who has received a NCAA Postgraduate scholarship, earned All-American honors this past winter, leading the Falcons to the GNAC and NCAA Division II West Regional titles and to a semifinal berth in the Elite Eight.

The GNAC player of the year, Binetti led the Falcons in scoring (18.2), assists (5.1) and three-point percentage (.474) and was ranked among the conference top 10 in five different categories.

"Tony represents the true student-athlete, someone who is just as committed to academics as he is to basketball, and it showed both on and off the court," Seattle Pacific coach Jeff Hironaka said.

In the classroom, Binetti earned a 3.54 grade point average in business administration, and made both the GNAC academic and CoSIDA Academic all-region teams. During his academic career at SPU, he was named to the Dean's list six different times.

Now playing professionally in Italy, Binetti's Cliamio Bologna is facing Benetton Treviso in the championship series.