FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU basketball's
Sha Carter (
Southfield, Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) for the women and
Isaiah Thompson (
Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville HS/Purdue) for the men picked up more major academic recognition Tuesday, as they were named to the 2023 I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Teams -- the 13th and 14th Eagles to earn such honors.
FGCU was one of only three institutions (Creighton and St. Francis Brooklyn) to have an honoree on both teams. The DI-AAA ADA is comprised of the 98 (of 361) Division I institutions that do not sponsor the sport of football, including the likes of Gonzaga, VCU, Wichita State, Loyola-Chicago, Belmont and most of the Big East Conference.
Carter was named ASUN Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Thompson earned ASUN Men's Basketball All-Academic Team honors this season. Their I-AAA honors mark the 12th and 13th for FGCU athletics, and Thompson's is only the second for a male Eagle in history (
Marc-Eddy Norelia, 2016) to make the prestigious list.
Carter, a graduate student, carries a 4.0 GPA while pursuing her master's degree in criminal justice at FGCU, and earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and criminology from Walsh (OH) University with a minor in forensic science and government foreign affairs. Carter became the seventh ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Eagle history and the first since
Keri Jewett-Giles earned the recognition in 2020. Carter was named one of two Suncoast Credit Union FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athletes of the Month for December 2022.
"This is an outstanding award, and I'm beyond grateful to have won it," Carter said. "To be a part of something great, and also to be recognized for my academics – and on a national level at that – is an amazing feeling. I can't stop smiling!"
Carter transferred after a stellar Division II run at Walsh, and earned All-ASUN First-Team honors this season along with being named the ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year and to the 2023 ASUN All-Tournament Team. Carter played in all 37 regular-season games for #24 post-season ranked FGCU this season, with 34 starts. She averaged 14.1 points per game, and led the Green & Blue with 6.2 rebounds per outing.
"Sha is an excellent student, and had an exceptional season on the court," said FGCU head women's basketball coach
Karl Smesko. "We only had Sha for one season, but what she contributed on and off the court to the FGCU community is truly remarkable."
Thompson, a junior, is majoring in organizational leadership at FGCU, and is currently carrying a 3.8 cumulative GPA. The transfer from Purdue, who also made the Big 10 All-Academic Team as a sophomore in 2020-21, earned a 3.75 term GPA in the Fall of 2022. He was named one of two Suncoast Credit Union FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athletes of the Month for January 2023.
"It is a huge honor to be selected to a list that not a whole lot of people get a chance to be a part of," Thompson said. "We all put in a lot of hard work and dedication, both in our sport and for our university with our academics. Sharing this honor with the rest of these athletes show that if you care about the right things and do the right things on and off the court, good things happen."
Thompson excelled on the court all season for the Green & Blue, leading the Eagles in scoring at 14.9 points per game, made a team-82 81 3-pointers, and dished out 103 assists. He started all 32 games in the 2022-23 season, and has 56 starts and 127 appearances counting his performance at Purdue from 2019-22.
"Isaiah is a tremendous representative of FGCU basketball, both on the floor and in the classroom," said FGCU head men's basketball coach
Pat Chambers. "This honor reflects his dedication to his sport and his education, and we are proud he is a part of our program."
Basketball players from all Division I-AAA ADA member institutions are eligible for these prestigious annual awards. Each of the nominees is required to maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.20 (4.00 scale) in undergraduate study and have been a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletics credentials. Nominees must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games listed on the nomination form. To be eligible for nomination to the Scholar-Athlete Team, individuals must have reached junior academic standing at their respective institution (ineligible athletics transfers are not eligible).
FGCU Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team Members
Courtney Chihil 2011
Courtney Chihil 2012
Sarah Hansen 2012
Sarah Hansen 2013
Sarah Hansen 2014
Stephanie Haas 2015
Stephanie Haas 2016
Marc-Eddy Norelia 2016
Jordin Alexander 2017
Taylor Gradinjan 2018
Keri Jewett-Giles 2020
Kerstie Phills 2021
Sha Carter 2023
Isaiah Thompson 2023
2023 DI-AAA ADA Men's Scholar-Athlete Team
Name Institution Major GPA
Fletcher Abee University of North Carolina Asheville Management 3.7
Max Abmas Oral Roberts University Mathematics-Pre Medicine 3.8
Rasir Bolton Gonzaga University Organizational Leadership 3.7
Josiah Harris St. Francis College Brooklyn Professional Studies 3.5
Ryan Kalkbrenner Creighton University Management 3.2
Sebastien Lamaute Farleigh Dickinson University Finance 3.8
Dan Petcash Binghamton University Psychology 3.5
Matt Schner Lipscomb University Business Administration 3.8
Cam Shelton Loyola Marymount University Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Innovation 3.9
Isaiah Thompson Florida Gulf Coast University Organizational Leadership 3.8
2023 DI-AAA ADA Women's Scholar-Athlete Team
Name Institution Major GPA
Tayla Brugler Saint Joseph's University Sports Marketing 3.9
Sha Carter Florida Gulf Coast University Psychology & Criminology 4.0
Callie Cavanaugh Fairfield University Strategic Human Resources 3.6
Alyssa Fisher St. Francis College Brooklyn Biology, Health Care Management 3.7
Lauren Jensen Creighton University Sociology 3.8
Ila Lane University of California Santa Barbara Sociology 3.7
Destiny Leo Cleveland State University Sports Management 3.3
Maggie Pina Boston University Political Science 3.9
Callie Scheier High Point University Human Relations 3.9
Rosemary Schweizer University of the Pacific Political Science 3.9
Emina Selimovic Siena College Economics 3.9
A special review committee of Division I-AAA Athletics Directors were responsible for selecting the winners. The 2023 Review Committee consisted of Janet R. Cone (committee chair), UNC Asheville; Chasse Conque, UTRGV; Irma Garcia, St. Francis College; Phillip Hutcheson, Lipscomb University; Robert Lineburg, Radford University; Marianne Reilly, Manhattan College; and Kenneth Siegfried, University of Evansville.
About Division I-AAA ADA: Now in its 22nd year, the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association's mission is to enhance initiatives common to its Division I-AAA membership (the 98 Division I institutions that do not sponsor football), in particular, aspects related to their flagship basketball programs. For more information on the Division I-AAA ADA, please visit www.div1aaa-ada.com. The Division I-AAA ADA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 58th year. For more information on NACDA and the 18 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit
www.nacda.com.
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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 97 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 3.67 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.
---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---
