VALDOSTA, Ga. - In just two short years as a Blazer, Beau Justice has accomplished things that many collegiate athletes are unable to achieve in a full four-year career. That list of accomplishments grew yet again this week, as Justice was named one of 10 student-athletes that make up the league's 22nd annual "Top Ten" Award winners, as announced by the Gulf South Conference office on Tuesday.

Justice, who ascended as one of the top basketball players in the country over the course of the last two seasons, made his first appearance on the "Top Ten" list, which features the top five female and top five males student-athletes in the conference. Of the ten honorees, one female and one male will be selected as the winner of the prestigious Commissioner's Trophy. During the current decade, Jon Koenigsfield won the Commissioner's Trophy award in 2010, before the honor was twice secured by Courtney Albritton (2014 and 2015) in succession to Morgan Johnson, who won the award twice as a Valdosta State softball player in both 2012 and 2013.

"You don't always have to be the most talented, or the most athletic, or the tallest," said Justice earlier this year after claiming one of his countless accolades. "If you work hard and put your nose to the grindstone, it's going to pay off in one way or another. Much of the credit for these individuals honors also goes to my teammates. There are a lot of better players than me out there playing on worse teams. If you have a good team and a good group of guys to play with, and if you work hard, good things are going to happen."

Since Justice joined the Blazers two seasons ago, he has helped lead Valdosta State to an incredible 37-5 record against Gulf South Conference opponents. During that stretch, he has become just the third player in VSU history to reach the 1,000 point scorer plateau in two seasons or less. At the end of his junior season this spring, he was named GSC Player of the Year, D2CCA South Region Player of the Year, and NABC Division II All-America. 

A host of community service projects and an impressive academic career have helped round out Justice's career at VSU. With a 3.3 GPA as a major in Interdisciplinary studies, he was recognized as an GSC All-Academic student-athlete. In addition, the Peebles, Ohio native has spent countless hours, both alone and with teammates, participating in community service activities such as Miracle League, Special Olympics, and Helfer's Heroes.

"It's like a Christmas morning type of feeling," said Justice about the joy he has experienced through his community service work that has been highly focused on helping children with special needs. "To have these opportunities to put a smile on a child's face, every time it just makes you feel wonderful."

As a "Top Ten" award winner, Justice will travel to Pensacola Beach in Pensacola, Fla. to attend the GSC's Annual Awards Banquet, where the conference will recognize each of the ten honorees before announcing the 2018 Commissioner's Trophy winner. The event will take place at 5:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 31st, and can be viewed in its entirety via a livestream provided by the GSC on Facebook Live.

The "Top Ten" are selected with the assistance of an advisory committee representing the ADs, SWAs, SIDs, FARs and Presidents from randomly selected GSC schools, which makes a recommendation to the Commissioner, who has the final decision. The awards are given based on athletic, academic, and extracurricular achievement during the 2017-18 season.