By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
ATLANTA, Ga. – It's known far and wide about Tennessee Tech women's basketball's success on the court. Now the team is getting recognized for its efforts off the court as the Golden Eagles received their first-ever Academic Top 25 selection by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, ranking 21st overall with a 3.571 mark, combining both the fall and spring semesters.
"This was an important goal within our program we have been working towards achieving, and we are honored to be recognized by the WBCA as one of the Top 25 Academic teams in the nation," said head coach Kim Rosamond. "Our players are committed to a standard of excellence in all they do, and I am proud of each of them. It takes everyone's best effort to achieve a team honor of this nature, and I am extremely grateful for their commitment and hard work."
The Golden Eagle women posted a program-record 3.599 in Fall 2021, then followed up with a 3.498 in Spring 2022.
"Along with our players, we also want to recognize Assistant Athletic Director for Academics and Student-Athlete Welfare Dr. Leveda Birdwell and assistant coach Melanie Walls, who both oversee academics within our program, for their leadership and mentorship of our student-athletes. Their unwavering support of our players in the classroom plays a major role in our success."
This is the 27th year the WBCA has compiled the list of the top academic programs in all collegiate levels of the sport.
South Dakota State (3.837) led Division I, while Fort Hays State (3.814) led Division II, Emerson College (3.840) led Division III and Hastings College (3.901) led the NAIA. Dawson Community College and Umpqua Community College led the JUCO level with a 3.490 mark.
"The WBCA family of coaches is committed to the student-athlete experience and celebrates these teams that have demonstrated excellence in the classroom," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. "This year's WBCA Academic Top 25 is a powerful list of teams and their head coaches who have winning cultures that prepare their student-athletes for success in life.
"We are also pleased this year to recognize all teams that achieved the minimum 3.0 combined GPA required for nomination. That alone is no small feat considering the rigors of playing college athletics."
The Tech women's basketball team finished 21-11 overall this past season, finishing second in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Golden Eagles reached the OVC tournament championship and earned the league's berth to the WNIT.
