Brandi Brown (left) and Alysha Clark (right) have received Academic All-America accolades by CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine. (MT Athletic Communications)
TOWSON, Md. - Middle Tennessee senior women's basketball standouts Brandi Brown and Alysha Clark have garnered CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America accolades it was announced Tuesday after three teams were chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Brown was tabbed to the five-member Second Team and is one of two current graduate students among the group. She graduated from Middle Tennessee last May with a 3.90 grade point average in accounting.
Clark was selected to the Third Team, also comprised of five players. Clark, who finished her undergraduate requirements in December, boasted a 3.30 grade point average as an electronic media journalism major.
The Blue Raiders were the only team to have more than one representative among the 15 overall players selected for the three teams.
Connecticut's Maya Moore was recognized as the Academic All-America of the Year.
The Middle Tennessee pair raises the school total to five honors in program history and are the first players to earn the accolade since Chrissy Givens' First Team selection and Academic All-America of the Year honor in 2007. Givens also received First Team mention in 2006, while Lianne Beck collected First Team accolades in 1998.
Brown and Clark were placed on the national ballot after being chosen First Team Academic All-District IV.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
The pair will join the rest of their Blue Raider teammates at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Miami, Fla., as they face FIU in the next-to-last regular-season game of the campaign.
2009-10 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team Erin Anthony, U.S. Military Academy Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee Kelsey Luna, Indiana State Maya Moore, Connecticut Liz Repella, West Virginia
Second Team Brandi Brown, Middle Tennessee Lori Bjork, Maryland Amanda Johnson, Oregon May Kotsopoulos, Vermont Lauren Sims, Long Beach State
Third Team Alysha Clark, Middle Tennessee Rachele Fitz, Marist Amanda Stull, Coastal Carolina Ashley Sweat, Kansas State Jasmine Thomas, Duke
Academic All-America of the Year Maya Moore, Connecticut
Print this article
