Elijah Hales named Phil Eskew Award recipient

Elijah Hales (Cromwell, Ind./Westview), a 2023 DePauw graduate and member of the Tigers’ men’s basketball squad has been selected as the 2023 Phil Eskew Award recipient as DePauw’s top senior male student-athlete. Hales is also DePauw’s nominee for the North Coast Athletic Conference’s Don Hunsinger Award.

The Eskew Award is presented annually to a senior male student-athlete who best exemplifies effort and excellence in academics, athletics, leadership, integrity, dedication to the team, campus involvement and community service.

Hales, a 2023 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient, earned all-NCAC first team honors in 2023 after garnering second team accolades as a junior. A first team College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® selection in 2023, Hales earned third team honors in 2022.

Hales led the Tigers in scoring this season with 18.5 points per game including a high of 39 in a December 22 win over Kalamazoo. He also scored 33 in a January 14 win over Wabash. In the Kalamazoo win, Hales broke the program record for points in a half when he scored 29 in the first half. He then broke his own mark in the Wabash game after totaling 31 in the second half. His nine 3-pointers made in the Kalamazoo game tied a program record.

Averaging 34.4 minutes per game, Hales also topped the team with 71 3-point field goals made and connected on 37.2 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. He also averaged 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists and his 86.8 percent free throw shooting ranks 27th in Division III.

He finished with a program-record 87.4 percent career mark at the free throw line and, over his four seasons, scored 1,259 points which ranks 17th in program history. His 217 3-pointers made rank fourth in program history.

An economics major, Hales graduated summa cum laude and was both a Phi Beta Kappa and Chi Alpha Sigma inductee and was DePauw’s NCAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for having the highest cumulative GPA through seven semesters. Hales was recognized on DePauw’s Dean’s List and the Tiger Pride Honor Roll each of his eight semesters and was a Management Fellow while also being named to the NCAC Academic Honor Roll three times. He served on DePauw’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a portfolio analyst on the DePauw Investment Group. Hales was a three-year member of the Phi Kappa Psi executive board.

Other finalists for this year’s Eskew Award included Ford Baker (cross country/track and field), Jack Drake (football), Jack Kneisley (lacrosse), Thomas Partridge (tennis) and Danny Sheehan (baseball).