MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- Edgewood College soccer student-athlete Miguel Konde Gwo has been named the 2024-2025 G. Steven Larson Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Student-Athlete of the Year for men's sports, as selected by the league's Senior Woman Administrators Standing Committee (SWASC).
Konde Gwo is the first men's honoree from Edgewood in the award's 18-year history.
Konde Gwo, a native of Marseille, France, was a key component of Edgewood's 2024 NACC regular-season championship squad that went 17-2-2 overall and topped the league table with a 10-0-1 mark. It was the Eagles' first NACC men's soccer title and the first regular-season conference title for the program since winning the Lake Michigan Conference crown in 2000 and was just two years removed from back-to-back 13th-place league finishes. He is a two-time United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection, earning first-time honors this past season and third-team honors in 2023. Konde Gwo is also a two-time first-team All-NACC selection (2023, 2024).
Konde Gwo was the Eagles' second-leading scorer in 2024, registering 44 points on 17 goals and 10 assists in 21 starts. Six of his goals were game-winners, which ranked second on the team, and he converted his lone penalty-kick attempt. He was named NACC Men's Soccer Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 7-14, 2024, after tallying four goals against Aurora to match the program's single-game record for goals. Konde Gwo also tallied three goals and two assists each in victories over UW-Stout (Sept. 8) and UW-River Falls (Sept. 14).
In 40 career games as an Eagle, Konde Gwo tallied 74 points on 31 goals and 12 assists while recording 11 game-winning goals. He scored on 24.6 percent (31-of-126) of his shots.
Alongside members of the Edgewood men's soccer team, Konde Gwo spent time volunteering on weekends to teach children aged 5-13 the basics of the game of soccer, and - for some age groups - even more advanced techniques or strategy.
Elsewhere on campus, Konde Gwo served as an assistant in Edgewood's Mission, Value, and Inclusion Office, tracking and creating events for various groups on campus ranging from prayer sessions, making sure recreational rooms and prayer rooms were adequately supplied with the necessary supplies, and tracking and restocking the pantry rooms as necessary to make sure that any food or self-care items that students might need would be available.
"Four years ago, when I was prepping my college applications, had you told me that I would find my passion in helping people and would want to do nothing but that for the rest of my life, I probably would have laughed and told you that I could see myself doing nothing else in life but professional football," Konde Gwo mentioned in his personal statement. "I had secured a spot on Olympic de Marseille’s [Under-19] squad and only planned to attend college until the COVID-19 travel bans were lifted - one year. In my first year, however, I took two humanities classes – 20th Century History and Global Economics – that, along with much other knowledge gained, may have planted the seed for my current passion to help. In the fall of year two, courses in Criminal Law and Due Process galvanized a decision to pursue law school. However, it wasn’t just about helping the criminal justice system; it became about society as a whole for me, how the rule of law could be used to better the lives of everyday citizens regardless of religion, race, gender, sexuality, or ethnicity."
"The founders promulgated the constitution with hopes of a new world in which the people governed themselves, and people – mostly white men – had reasonable freedom to live their lives as they pleased. In the contemporary era, as a society, we have been trying to extend the constitution to people that it may not have included at the time of its creation, whether because of the language or the misguided views of that time. We have come a long way, yet there remains distance to be covered because, in theory, the laws of our current society apply to everyone equally. However, in practice, there are many instances where that is not the case – due to varying factors."
After two years of playing soccer at scholarship programs, Konde Gwo matriculated to Edgewood. "At Edgewood College, I found my people," he noted. "[P]eople who shared my desire to nudge society an inch towards the positive, each in their own way. I started by getting an assistant position that pretty much dealt with every department of campus, then secured an internship at the federal Public Defense Office of the Western District of Wisconsin – the first ever undergrad student to do so. This is where I learned what a public defenders' job is about, unlike the common mistaken perception their job isn’t necessarily about getting criminals off, their actualy job is to make sure that individuals rights aren’t being violated in the process of administrating justice, to ensure that the government remains just and equitable, not subject the people to cruel and unjust punishment."
His experience in the public defender's office led Konde Gwo, as vice-president of Edgewood's Criminal Justice Association, to coordinate events on campus that he hoped would emphasize the need to keep the criminal justice system proper and fair to avoid harming innocents in the quest to punish the guilty. On two occations, Edgewood hosted conversations with death row exoneree Ray Krone. Additionally, Konde Gwo coordinated and moderated a panel consisting of a federal judge who had previously served as a federal prosecutor and a pair of federal public defenders, allowing each panelist to describe the pros and cons of their positions, discuss their respective career paths, and educate attendees about other positions in the criminal justice system that don't necessarily require a law degree.
"This association is personal to me," added Konde Gwo, "because it was a way to inform students across campus about the law school path, regardless of the type of law they wanted to practice [or knew] where to begin. It also promulgated public interest as a whole - other public interest jobs you could do to benefit society without having to go to law school."
In the future, Konde Gwo plans to facilitate an LSAT study group with students who have expressed needing help with the LSAT and the law school application process.
"My journey at Edgewood College has been academically challenging yet insightful, community-like, and it has equipped me with the necessary skills to succeed wherever my journey takes me next," concluded Konde Gwo.
Konde Gwo graduated summa cum laude in May 2025 with a 3.91 grade-point average while majoring in criminal justice. He is a two-time NACC Scholar-Athlete and was selected Academic All-District (first team) and Academic All-America (second team) by College Sports Communicators in 2024. Konde Gwo was also named to the Edgewood College Dean's List in both 2023 and 2024.
About the NACC Student-Athlete of the Year
Each of the NACC's 13 coeducational members may nominate one male student-athlete for the annual award. The NACC Senior Woman Administrators Standing Committee (SWASC) uses a combination of the following criteria in the selection of the award: athletic excellence, academic achievement, service and leadership, and a personal statement.
Effective with the 2022-2023 academic year, the award was renamed in honor and memory of NACC founding commissioner Dr. G. Steven Larson. Larson oversaw the NACC from 2006-2020, assuming the commissioner's role after 20 years as director of athletics and head men's basketball coach at Edgewood College. During his final 11 years at Edgewood, he also served as commissioner of the Lake Michigan Conference (LMC). Larson passed away in December 2021.
Other 2024-25 G. Steven Larson NACC Student-Athlete of the Year nominees - Men's Sports: Braeden Duncan, Aurora University, golf; Tyler Dorsch, Concordia University Chicago, baseball; Max Esposito, Concordia University Wisconsin, lacrosse; Zak Keegan, Lakeland University, baseball; Logan Rademan, Marian University, baseball; Joseph Stagowski, Rockford University, baseball; Brett Boelkow, St. Norbert College, football; Isaiah Herried, Wisconsin Lutheran College, cross country/track & field
G. Steven Larson NACC Student-Athlete of the Year Award - Men's Sports
Recipients By Year
2024-25: Miguel Konde Gwo, Edgewood
2023-24: Ryan Broeckel, Wisconsin Lutheran
2022-23: Mikolaj (Nick) Kowalczyk, Dominican
2021-22: Justin Sartori, Aurora
2020-21: Gavin Zimbelman, Aurora & Ted Howell, Illinois Tech
2019-20: Ethan Klosak, Dominican
2018-19: Quin Krisik, MSOE
2017-18: Kevin Coppin, Concordia Chicago
2016-17: Eric Kittel, Concordia Wisconsin
2015-16: Logan Andryk, MSOE
2014-15: Logan Marvin, Dominican & Aaron Roeseler, Wisconsin Lutheran
2013-14: Eric Zeitler, Wisconsin Lutheran
2012-13: Doug Ingold, Aurora
2011-12: Tim Mackey, Aurora
2010-11: Austin Meier, MSOE
2009-10: Steve Salazar, Aurora & Brock Solveson, Concordia Wisconsin
2008-09: Zach Bickel, Concordia Chicago
2007-08*: Jordan Van Ess, Marian
*inaugural award