Tide Women?s Basketball Has Successful Summer in the Classroom
8/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA ?? With all of the excitement surrounding the arrival of seven newcomers to the Alabama women’s basketball team and the encouraging results of a hard summer’s worth of work on the floor and in the weight room, it might be easy to overlook the most important work the Tide players accomplished this summer: their homework.
Fortunately, that work was not forgotten by the Alabama student-athletes, as the team put together a very successful summer in the classroom. The Tide players took a total of 71 hours of course work over the summer months and compiled a very impressive 3.56 team cumulative GPA during the two terms.
“I am very pleased with everything this team has done this summer,” head coach Stephany Smith said. “They have been very assertive in their workouts and in the academic center, which has been very rewarding for me and my staff. When we go out looking for student-athletes to be a part of our family, we look to recruit the whole person. The academic performance of these players over the summer is an immediate reflection of the character of this basketball team.”
Academic success is not something new to the Tide women’s basketball program.
In 2005-06, Alabama boasted four players who earned Academic All-SEC honors. Two players, Dee Merriweather and Kate Mastin, who returns for her senior season with the Tide this winter, earned their degrees from the Capstone. Camilla Blands, now a sophomore with the Tide, earned Freshmen Academic All-SEC honors for her efforts in the classroom.
Alabama’s players will begin class on Wednesday, Aug. 23 and will officially open its season on Oct. 13 with the commencement of practice.
