Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Basketball Teams announced; Casey Coons (Taylor University) and Jennifer Jorgensen (Grand View) named Academic All-America Team Members of the Year

Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Basketball Teams announced; Casey Coons (Taylor University) and Jennifer Jorgensen (Grand View) named Academic All-America Team Members of the Year

2011-12 Capital One Men's & Women's Basketball Academic All-America® Teams (College Division) - PDF

2011-12 Basketball Academic All-America Team® announcements:
• Monday, Feb. 20: College Division
• Tuesday, Feb. 21: NCAA Division III
• Wednesday, Feb. 22: NCAA Division II
• Thursday, Feb. 23: NCAA Division I


TOWSON, Md. – Junior guard Casey Coons of Taylor University and senior forward Jennifer Jorgensen of Grand View University headline the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Coons and Jorgensen have been chosen as the winners of the Academic All-America® of the Year award for the men’s and women’s basketball College Division teams, respectively.

The Capital One College Division Academic All-America® basketball teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.

Coons, a health and physical education major from Indianapolis, Ind., carries a 3.69 grade point average (GPA). He has been the Trojans' leading scorer for the past three seasons. The third-leading scorer in the Mid-Central College Conference, he is averaging 20.0 points per game. A two-time MCC third team all-conference selection, Coons ranks fourth in NAIA Division II with 95 3-pointers made. He is also seventh in free throw percentage (.871) and 14th in scoring.

Coons, who has led the Trojans to a 20-10 record, has scored 1,566 points in his career with 318 assists. He was named first team All-MCC this season.

Jorgensen, a sport management major from Dayton, Iowa, carries a perfect 4.00 grade point average. She is the leading scorer for the No. 9 Vikings, who have a 25-5 record.

Jorgensen, a first team NAIA All-American selection as a junior, also leads NAIA Division II in scoring with 702 points, a 23.4 average. She is has been named as the Midwest Collegiate Conference Player of the Week six times as a senior.

The leading scorer and rebounder in the MCC as a junior, she led the Vikings to the Midwest Collegiate Conference regular season title in 2012. She also ranks ninth in the nation with 10.1 rebounds per game and stands third in steals (3.4).

Men's Basketball College Division Capital One Academic All-America Team

Joining Coons on the men’s first team are Kevin Dawson of the University of Saint Francis (Ind.), Chris Donnelly of Saint Ambrose University, Coleson Rakestraw of John Brown University and Andy Schweitzer of Nebraska Wesleyan University. The five members of the Capital One Academic All-America® College Division Men’s Basketball first team have an average G.P.A. of 3.86.

Dawson, a senior health and exercise science major from Fort Wayne, Ind., has a 3.99 grade point average. He has started every game for the No. 24 Cougars and ranks second on the team with a 12.37 scoring average. Dawson currently is ranked 21st in NAIA Division II in free throw percentage (.836).

A senior industrial engineering major with a 3.70 G.P.A., Donnelly is a native of Peoria, Ill. He leads the Midwest Collegiate Conference in blocked shots with a 2.07 average and also ranks fifth with 1.52 steals per game. He is also 12th in the league with a 6.0 rebounding average. Ranked fourth in the nation in blocked shots, he has scored 1,288 points in his career, 20th on the Fighting Bees’ all-time list. He has led No. 16 Saint Ambrose to a 23-9 record.

Rakestraw, a junior engineering major with a 3.93 G.P.A., has started every game of his career for John Brown University. A native of Siloam Springs, Ark., he has led No. 13 John Brown to a 23-6 record by averaging 11.1 points per game, fourth on the team. A junior guard, Rakestraw is one of the top three-point shooters in the NAIA, ranking 21st with a .427 three-point field goal percentage.

A senior accounting and economics major with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A., Schweitzer has led Nebraska Wesleyan to a 12-13 record and the number six seed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. A native of Bedford, Iowa, he is averaging 7.84 points per game and is second on the team with 29 three-point baskets made. He has scored in double figures in 10 games this year and is tied for the team lead with 2.5 assists per game.

Named to the Capital One Academic All-America second team are sophomore Michael Greene of Northwest (Wash.) University, senior Garth Hamilton of Morningside College, sophomore Brad Karp (Saint Xavier University), senior Derek Kingshott  (Cornerstone University) and junior Daniel Van Kalsbeek of Northwestern (Iowa) College.

Senior Zachary Bryant of Southwestern Christian College, senior Taylor Evans of Columbia (Mo.) College, sophomore Danny Rudeen (Morningside College), sophomore Nick Reed (Doane College) and junior Elliott Smith (Grace College) were named to the Capital One Academic All-America third team.

Women's Basketball College Division Capital One Academic All-America Team

Joining Jorgensen on the Capital One Academic All-America® women’s first team are senior guard Katy Clift of Oklahoma Christian University, junior guard Kelly Ellison of Shorter University, senior guard Brittany Roberts of Lubbock Christian University and senior guard Marissa Young of Saint Xavier.

The five members of the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® College Division first team have an amazing average G.P.A. of 3.986.

A senior English Writing major with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A., Clift is the leading scorer for Oklahoma Christian with a 13.7 average. A native of Kiowa, Okla., she has started all 28 games for the Eagles and leads the team with 74 three-point field goals made. The team leader with a .848 free throw percentage, Clift ranks second on the Eagles’ career list with 210 three-point baskets made in a career. As a junior. Clift set the school record with 93 three-point baskets made.

Ellison, a senior business major from Columbus, Ga., also owns a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. A two-time All-Southern States Athletic Conference selection, Ellison was named as the NAIA National Emil S. Liston Award winner in 2010-11. The two-time NAIA All-American has led No. 22 Shorter to a 23-5 record. The NAIA leader with 6.8 assists per game, she is already the Hawks’ career leader with 499 assists. She is averaging 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

A senior exercise science major with a 3.97 G.P.A., Roberts has led the No. 7 Chaparrals to a 22-4 record and a 19-1 mark in the Sooner Athletic Conference. A native of Canyon, Texas, she is the fourth-leading scorer for the Chaps with a 12.3 average. A two-time All-Sooner Athletic Conference selection, she is ranked fourth in NAIA Division I with an .871 free throw percentage. She set the conference and school record for single-season free throw percentage last year with a .913 mark. Roberts ranks among the Chaps’ career scoring leaders with 1,331 points.

Young, a senior pre-medicine major with a 3.96 G.P.A., has led No. 14Saint Xavier to a 20-7 record. A native of Monroe, Wis., she was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® third team last year. Averaging 16.8 points per game, she is the second-leading scorer in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Young also leads the CCAC with 3.95 steals per game. A two-time All-CCAC selection, she ranks 14th in the NAIA in steals.

Davenport University senior teammates Karlee Despres and Julie Janish lead the Capital One Academic All-America® second team. Junior Courtney Clifton of Campbellsville University, senior Shea Rasmussen (Nebraska Wesleyan) and junior Amy Vos (Grand View) complete the second team.

Representing the Capital One Academic All-America third team are: senior Abby Ballman (Shawnee State University), junior Kaitlin Bogle of Columbia (Mo.), senior Sarah Child (Roberts Wesleyan University), senior Sierra Fletcher (Mount Vernon Nazarene University), senior Kelsey Green (Huntington University) and senior Abbey Marra (Southern Nazarene University).

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $122.2 billion in deposits and $197.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2010. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Week. In 2010, Capital One launched the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men’s and women’s sports. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.

About the Capital One Academic All-America® program

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. 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 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Dan O’Connell, Towson University
Academic All-America® Vice-Chair for Publicity/Communications
(410) 704-3102
doconnell@towson.edu

Michael MacEachern
Young Harris College
Academic All-America ® College Division Publicity
(706) 379-5106
mfmaceachern@yhc.edu