Bucknell University Athletics
Cory Starkey to Continue Academic, Hoops Career in Ireland via Victory Scholarship
6/18/2015 11:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Recent Bucknell graduate Cory Starkey has been awarded a Victory Scholarship, which will enable him to continue his studies and his basketball career in Ireland in 2015-16. Starkey, who will become the third Bucknell student-athlete to study in Ireland through a Victory Scholarship, will attend National University of Ireland in Galway.
The Victory Scholarship is provided through the Sport Changes Life Foundation, which allows student-athletes to continue their athletic and academic careers by both playing on a collegiate team and studying in a graduate program at an Irish or Northern Irish university. The Patriot League entered into a partnership with the Sport Changes Life Foundation in December of 2009 to facilitate opportunities for student-athletes to secure a Graduate Development International Scholarship. The partnership enables graduates from Patriot League institutions to apply for graduate school sport scholarships in a university in Ireland.
This year's recipients are Starkey and Holy Cross women's basketball student-athlete Clare Sullivan. In addition to their academic and athletic endeavors, Starkey and Sullivan will be working with youth, particularly those that suffer disadvantage, in community programs designed to raise aspirations.
Previous Bucknell graduates taking advantage of the program were Darryl Shazier, who traveled to Northern Ireland in 2011-12 (and did this), and men's soccer student-athlete Ryan Sappington, who studied at the University of Limerick in 2012-13.
Starkey was a four-year letterman with the Bison men's basketball team. He was elected co-captain as a senior, when he was a key member of the team's frontcourt. Starkey played in 31 games this season, including 12 starts at the power forward position. He averaged 3.6 points and 4.6 rebounds while playing 18.2 minutes per game.
Known as a tenacious rebounder, particularly on the offensive glass, Starkey collected five or more boards in a game 16 times in 2014-15. He scored a career-high 12 points and also had nine rebounds in a league contest against Lafayette on Feb. 4. Starkey was part of three Patriot League regular-season title-winning teams during his Bucknell career, and he played in one NCAA Tournament and two NITs.
Starkey was an economics major at Bucknell, and this past season he earned a spot on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll for the third time in four years.
