LEXINGTON, Ky. — Senior guard Chelsea Chowning became the first women?s basketball player in school history to earn Academic All-America honors when she was named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America third team on Tuesday as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Chowning, a native of Berea, Ky., boasts a 4.00 grade point average in Kentucky?s prestigious College of Pharmacy. She is on track to graduate in 2010 with a doctorate in pharmacy. The 6-0 lefthander also was named to the Dean?s List and UK?s Athletics Director Honor Roll during the fall semester for her perfect GPA. She was an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV first-team selection to become eligible for Academic All-America honors.
?Being able to play basketball in my home state and go to school at such a prestigious college as UK?s College of Pharmacy is a dream come true,? Chowning said. ?I am really honored to be able to represent the University of Kentucky on the court and in the classroom.?
Chowning has seen action in 26 games with nine starts and averages 5.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game. More important that her stats, Chowning has been dubbed the ?heartbeat of this team? by Coach Matthew Mitchell for her invaluable leadership on and off the court.
The senior has a remarkable story as she competed last during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons for Atlantic-10 member Xavier. After being accepted to UK?s College of Pharmacy in 2005, she took a break from pharmacy school in the spring of 2007 and traveled to Germany to play amateur club basketball. With one year of collegiate eligibility remaining, she decided to walk-on at UK in the fall of ?07 and within a couple of months was awarded a full scholarship by Mitchell.
?Coaching Chelsea Chowning has been one of the greatest experiences I?ve ever had in my career,? Mitchell said. ?She possesses all of the qualities that we value in this program. She is one of the most honest, hard-working and disciplined players I?ve ever coached. Her performance academically is remarkable considering all of the demands on her time and the difficulties of her courses. She is one of the most valuable players on our team and I?m so proud of her.?
First-team Academic All-America selections in the University Division are Candace Parker of Tennessee, Delaney Conway of Portland State, Jackie McFarland of Colorado, Laura Rudolphi of Indiana State and Lindsay Whorton of Drake. Second-team honors are Nicky Anosike of Tennessee, Megan Frazee of Liberty, Danielle Green of Oklahoma State, Lauren Kohn of Ohio and Crystal Langhorne of Maryland. Along with Chowning, the third-team Academic All-America squad is comprised of Brittany Cook of Virginia Tech, Sarah-Jo Lawrence of George Washington, Whitney Lewis of Wright State, Katelyn Murray of St. Bonaventure and Allie Quigley of DePaul.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her 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.
