AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University athletic department was honored with two of the Sun Conference's highest awards on Monday, as Gyrenes were recognized as the Sun Conference's 2024 Team and Coach of Character. The Ave Maria volleyball program was honored as the Team of Character, while men's basketball head coach Jamon Copeland was recognized as the Coach of Character.

The NAIA's Champions of Character® Team Award is sponsored by the Conference Commissioner Association. This award honors one men's and one women's team for their exemplary character and sportsmanship on the field, on campus and in the community. This team demonstrates the core values of Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Sportsmanship and Servant Leadership.

The Ave Maria volleyball program totaled 708 hours of service to the community within AMU's Mother Teresa Project over the 2023-24 school year, an average of over 17 hours per player within the roster. Projects including serving the Ave Maria Parish, Lipman Family Farms Backpacks Give A Way, Meals of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, the Miami Soup Kitchen, and Immokalee Soccer School. Additionally, they were high achieving in the classroom with a team GPA of 3.39, the second highest among all AMU athletic teams. 

The Coach of Character award is given to a head coach of an NAIA institution who has been outstanding in embracing the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character initiative, using methods of teaching character through sport, and in community leadership through volunteering or service.

Copeland was nominated for the Coach of Character award through letters from colleagues, Ave Maria staff members, and former players. In one such letter, Ave Maria University provost Roger Nutt highlighted the impact Copeland has had on the Ave Maria community.

"In a word, Coach Copeland has had a transformative impact on the men's basketball team, the athletics department as a whole, and the entire University community," Nutt said. "He is one of those people whose own discipline and excellence elevates everyone around him."

As the conference honorees, both the volleyball team and Copeland are now finalists for the NAIA's national award. Ave Maria has earned a national award once before in school history, with men's basketball player Eric Klekas - who was recruited to Ave Maria and coached by Copeland - earning the Emil S. Liston Award in 2022. The national honorees will be unveiled in September, and honored at the NAIA Convention in San Diego in April 2025.