The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association released its 2018-2019 academic team honor rolls recently and the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets earned fifth place nationally for its overall team grade point average (GPA).
Earlier this year, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) had released its 2018-2019 Academic Teams of the Year and the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets were ranked 7th in the nation in Division I women’s basketball for their academic performance with an overall grade point average of 3.61 on a 4.0 scale.
“Obviously we are very pleased to be recognized by both of these organizations for our outstanding performance in the classroom,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “We talk about the importance of their degree daily. We talk about their lives five, 10, 15 years down the road and how important it is to do well academically now so they can reap the rewards professionally then.”
Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, was ranked as the top women’s basketball two-year college academically with a 3.712 overall GPA. Northwest Mississippi Community College was second, Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama was third, followed by fourth ranked Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas and South Georgia Technical College’s Lady Jets was ranked fifth.
The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA and two-year GPAs inclusize of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2018 – 2019 season is the 24th in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls. “The WBCA is pleased to recognized these women’s basketball programs that have committed themselves to excellence on the court and in the classroom,” said WCBA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. “The 117 teams we honor this year strive to achieve all-around success and we comment their efforts. Congratulations!”
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets earned their 3rd consecutive trip to the NJCAA National Tournament this past Spring. They also posted the best overall record for the program at 30 – 4. This was the team’s sixth trip to the national tournament and the fifth for head coach James Frey in his seven years at the helm of the Lady Jets program.
“It is great to win 30 games and we proud of all that, but Assistant Coach Kezia Conyers and I get so much out of watching these young ladies buy into our academic message more than they do our athletic message,” added Frey. “They are all good players and athletes when they arrive or they wouldn’t be here. Many of them are pretty good students but to have over a 3.6 GPA you have to be better than pretty good. You have to really apply yourself and work at it.
“This past Spring made the third consecutive semester we had over a 3.25 team GPA. Honestly, I am incredibly proud of our young ladies for understanding how important it is to be STUDENT athletes. The first thing four year universities ask me when they call is how are they academically. It always feels good to say they will have over a 3.0 and graduate on time in the spring,” added Frey.