FORT MYERS, FL. – The four finalists for the 2020 Kavanagh Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award have been selected, as announced by the FGCU Department of Athletics on Tuesday. The winner will be revealed later this Spring and formally honored next Fall.
The Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award is the highest honor FGCU bestows upon a graduating senior student-athlete(s) and recognizes the ability of the winner(s) to combine athletic and academic successes (minimum 3.20 grade-point-average) with leadership and community service.
The 2020 finalists include: volleyball/beach volleyball's
Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, NM/Sandia HS), women's basketball guard
Keri Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, FL/Dunbar HS/Southern Miss), women's soccer defender
Lindsey Patton (Jacksonville, FL/Oakleaf HS), and women's soccer forward
Evdokia Popadinova (Hadzhidimovo, Bulgaria/Nikola Vaptsarov/Northwestern Ohio).
All four finalists have collectively combined to lead their FGCU programs to a total of 12 overall ASUN Conference titles and five NCAA Tournaments.
From 2003-09, the scholar-athlete award was given to the male and female student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA. The award is now presented to at least one senior who shows a combination of excellence within his or her playing venue, in the classroom and as a role model for others. The 2019 Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award (renamed in honor of
Director of Athletics Ken Kavanagh) was presented to
Holly Fritz (women's soccer) and
Maggie Rick (volleyball).
"We continue to be blessed with an abundance of tremendous individuals comprising our senior classes which makes even narrowing down to a finalists group extremely challenging," said Kavanagh. "In turn, this phenomenal quartet of special young women have certainly distinguished themselves in so many ways befitting what this highest honor for anyone who dons the Green & Blue represents."
For more information, and to view former award recipients, visit FGCUAthletics.com/Awards. Below are more details on each of the four finalists.
Amanda Carroll – Volleyball – Outside Hitter/Beach Volleyball – Albuquerque, NM/Sandia HS
Carroll, who currently carries a 3.94 GPA as a graduate student while working toward a master's in educational leadership, is a four-time President's List (4.0) and Dean's List recipient, and nine-time member of the AD Honor Roll. She is in her second year serving as the ASUN's Division I Representative to the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). A two-term President and the only ever five-year member of the Eagles Council (FGCU's SAAC), as well as one of the Green & Blue's representatives on the ASUN SAAC (she served as their President in 2018-19), Carroll has also accumulated over 80 hours of community service for programs such as Habitat for Humanity, Harry Chapin Food Bank, Project Life Movement and the Naples Humane Society.
On the volleyball court, the outside hitter collected an FGCU record 1,483 career kills (ninth in ASUN history), 1,247 digs (third for FGCU/27th in ASUN) and 137 aces (second for FGCU/sixth in ASUN) while also compiling a Division I era program-record 44 double-doubles. Over the past two seasons alone, she helped lead the Eagles to a pair of ASUN regular-season titles, their first ASUN tournament championship, and a NCAA Tournament appearance which included an opening round win at #13 UCF. Carroll wrapped up her illustrious career as a three-time All-ASUN selection and a two-time ASUN All-Academic team pick. She was the 2015 ASUN Freshman of the Year and the 2017 ASUN Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
After suffering a season-ending hardship injury in 2018, Carroll returned this past season to work on her graduate studies. In addition to her ASUN accolades, she was a two-time AVCA All-Region honoree earning first-team accolades in 2017. She was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team as a junior as well. A two-sport athlete, she also competed for four seasons in beach volleyball. She finished with a program third-best ever 50 wins, with 41 of them earned as a member of the #1 pair over her final three seasons, including a victory in her final match over the ASUN's top team in the Conference Tournament's championship contest. She was also chosen to the ASUN All-Academic Team as a junior and senior (only FGCU student-athlete to earn such distinction in two sports). As an undergraduate student, Carroll earned a bachelor of arts in communication while also double-minoring in sociology and critical theory and produced a 3.91 cumulative GPA.
Head Coach Matt Botsford on Carroll:
"Amanda has been such a vital part of the growth of FGCU volleyball over the past five years. It is hard to imagine walking into the gym without her being there. The good news is that the influence she has had on this program will be felt long after she is gone. Amanda has helped transform our program, and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach her during that time. Her impact goes well beyond just volleyball, as Amanda has consistently demonstrated what a well-rounded individual she is. Whether it be in the classroom, on the court, or in the community, Amanda has been a phenomenal ambassador for Florida Gulf Coast University since the first day she stepped foot on our campus."
Keri Jewett-Giles – Women's Basketball – Guard - Fort Myers, FL/Dunbar HS/Southern Miss
Academically, Jewett-Giles was named the ASUN's 2019-20 Scholar-Athlete of the Year as she carries a 3.90 graduate school GPA, pursuing a master's degree in educational leadership. She is a one-time President's List (4.0), three-time Dean's List and five-time AD Honor Roll student since transferring from Southern Miss as a junior. The Fort Myers native was also named First Team Academic All-District by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), and she was also selected to participate in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) "So You Want To Be A Coach" program. Most recently, she was selected to the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association 18
th Annual Scholar-Athlete Team. Furthermore, she has compiled over 140 hours of community service at places such as the Midwest Food Bank, Caloosa Middle School, Spring Fling, Franklin Park Middle School and ECHO.
On the court, Jewett-Giles had, arguably, the best season of any player in program history, while leading her team (30-3) to a final national ranking of #24 and repeating as ASUN regular season and tournament champions. In addition to her scholar-athlete award, she was named the ASUN Player of the Year while also becoming a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year and a WBCA Honorable Mention All-American. She averaged a team and career-best 16.6 points per contest along with four rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.6 steals per game. In ASUN play alone, she finished second in scoring at 17.6 per contest and tallied seven games with 20-or-more points. On top of that, the point guard is the highest-scoring two-year transfer in program history with 957 points in the Green & Blue alone, and she finished with 1,464 points in her NCAA career, which is the 76th-highest total among all current Division I players nationally. Carrying a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio, she produced a career-high 35 points against LSU, which helped her break the program's Division I era career and single-season scoring average records - on top of shattering the program's ASUN Conference regular-season records for total points and single-season average.
Furthermore, Jewett-Giles is one of just three players in the program's Division I era to record a 500-point season with 548 and needed just 22 more points to break Kaneisha Atwater's (569, 2015-16) single-season record. In ASUN play, she finished sixth in assists/game and led the ASUN in steals/game (2.9). She ranked 12th nationally among all Division I players in career steals, as well as the top 50 in assists and top 100 in points.
As an undergraduate student, Jewett-Giles earned a bachelor's degree in child and youth studies with a concentration in child studies and produced a 3.46 cumulative GPA.
Head Coach Karl Smesko on Jewett-Giles:
"Keri has excelled on the court and in the classroom. She has earned many accolades. On the floor, she was tremendous, and she helped us have a special season. Academically, she has performed just as well. She loves to learn and competes in the classroom like she does on the court."
Lindsey Patton – Women's Soccer – Defender - Jacksonville, FL/Oakleaf HS
Patton, who carries a 3.92 GPA in exercise science, was named a Third-Team Scholar All-American by the United Soccer Coaches following the 2019 campaign. One of just 44 student-athletes in the nation to receive a selection, she and classmate Popadinova
were the only players from the ASUN to earn the honor. A three-time ASUN All-Academic selection, she has also made the President's List (4.0) three times, the Dean's List four times and the AD Honor Roll eight times during her career.
In addition to her work as an active member of the Eagles Council (SAAC) for the past four years, Patton has been involved in community service efforts with Habitat for Humanity, soccer clinics, and Spring Bling.
During her time as an Eagle, Patton has additionally earned ASUN Defensive Player of the Year honors (2019), was a two-time selection to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region First Team (2018-19), received All-ASUN First Team recognition (2017-18-19) and made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament during her freshman and sophomore campaigns. She was also tabbed to the ASUN All-Freshman Team, while being chosen to the All-Conference Second Team.
A four-year starter for the Green & Blue, Patton was a fixture amidst success, as the Eagles were an overall combined 52-17-6 (.733) and 22-5-1 (.804) in conference play, including premier wins over the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Arizona and Miami. She was a key member of three ASUN regular season championships and two ASUN Tournament titles, as well as the pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. She anchored this year's back line that allowed the lowest number of goals during the regular season (14) while being a major part in leading the team to a league-high eight team shutouts and limited opponents to an average of just eight shots per game. She wrapped up her FGCU career ranked sixth all-time in minutes played (6,784) and eighth in games played (75).
Head coach Jim Blankenship on Patton
"Lindsey is an outstanding student-athlete and person and is extremely worthy of this recognition. Her collegiate accolades at FGCU have set her apart from her teammates and she has served as the backbone of our backline throughout her career. A leader by example, she was selected as a two-year team captain and is someone who her teammates felt that they could trust both on and off the field. On top of my belief that she is a deserving candidate for this high honor, I feel that FGCU soccer will be forever grateful for her contributions."
Evdokia Popadinova – Women's Soccer – Forward - Hadzhidimovo, Bulgaria/Nikola Vaptsarov/Northwestern Ohio
Popadinova, who transferred to FGCU after two seasons with NAIA national champion Northwestern Ohio, has made the Dean's List in two of her three FGCU semesters. With a 3.81 GPA in integrated studies, she has earned numerous academic awards this year. In addition to earning United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American Second Team honors, she was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team, as well as the ASUN All-Academic Team.
Along with her outstanding performance in the classroom, Popadinova has applied herself to community service projects in the Fort Myers community. An active volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, she has also served at various soccer camps and clinics in order to give back to the youth soccer communities.
The three-time Bulgarian Footballer of the Year became the second two-time All-American in FGCU program history, joining former standout
Tabby Tindell (FGCU 2013-16). This past season, she led the Eagles with 11 goals scored in 17 matches, marking her second-consecutive season with double-digit goals. Her scoring effort, coupled with a pair of assists, boosted her to a team-high 24 points on the year. During the regular season, she paced the league in conference goals (six) and points (13), while helping lead her team to a share of the ASUN regular season championship and top seed. As a junior, her 35 points were the 15
th most in the country.
A two-time All-ASUN First Team selection (unanimously chosen in 2019), as well as a two-time All-South Region First Team honoree, she was named the ASUN Player of the Year in 2019 after her outstanding senior campaign. She was also named to the 2019 ASUN All-Tournament Team. Overall, despite having played only two seasons, she finished her career ranked second all-time in program history for game winning goals (11), third in career goals (25), and sixth in points (59).
Head coach Jim Blankenship on Popadinova
"I can't stress enough how much Evi has meant to our program during her short career as an Eagle. She is extremely self-motivated and is such a hard-working player that really set the tone for her teammates during practices and games. She is someone who showed up on campus last year and immediately made her presence known both within the conference and nationally. She has put a lot of work in to get to where she is now and I am thrilled that we had someone who was so dedicated to both her game and her academics as part of our program."
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and
pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just eight-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty-one consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall semester saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
