FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Athletics Department has announced its fifth pair of 2020-21 monthly academic honorees. Women's basketball redshirt junior Tyra Cox and men's soccer sophomore Aiden Jokomba have been named Scholar-Athletes of the Month for December.

A female and male Eagle are chosen as the FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month throughout the academic year. Factors in the selection for this honor include a combination of significant athletic and overall academic success.

Cox (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep/William & Mary) completed her bachelor's degree in Business Management this past Fall term and is set to join FGCU's MBA program for the Spring semester. She capped off the Fall with a 3.77 GPA while being named to the Dean's List four times and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll six times.

Despite missing the first three games of the season dealing with an injury, Cox has scored in double figures in three of her last four games, dropping a season-high 16 points at FIU on Dec. 20. The Orlando native is averaging 12 points per game (third on the team) while shooting 55-percent from the field and 40-percent from beyond the arc.

"Tyra is an excellent student, and she has made us a much better team after returning from injury," said head coach Karl Smesko.  

Jokomba (Anchovy St. James, Jamaica/Cornwall College) is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Public Health and carries a 3.71 GPA. He's been named to the Dean's List twice and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll three times.

The sophomore striker and the rest of the FGCU men's soccer team will begin its season on the road at UNF on Feb. 27 after the 2020 Fall season was postponed. As a freshman in 2019, Jokomba appeared in 12 matches making two starts. He tallied three goals, with one of them coming as the game-winner at home versus Georgia Southern, just minutes after coming on as a substitute in the 40th minute.

"Aiden is quiet and unassuming but he is a driven and highly successful student-athlete," said head coach Jesse Cormier. "He does excellent academic work, and with us, scores goals often in unorthodox ways. As a coaching staff, we are extremely proud and excited about his progress in the classroom and training."

FGCU Scholar-Athletes of the Month
August – Cortney VanLiew (Indoor Volleyball/Beach Volleyball) and Connor Gavigan (Men's Soccer)
September – Zoey Spitzer (Women's Soccer) and Lucas Kiprotich (Men's Cross Country)
October – Snowy Burnam (Indoor Volleyball/Beach Volleyball) and Johnny Long (Baseball)
November – Wiktoria Czarnecka (Swimming & Diving) and Caleb Catto (Men's Basketball)
December – Tyra Cox (Women's Basketball) and Aiden Jokomba (Men's Soccer)

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#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 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine 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 (No. 24, 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 (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each 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.