33 Bucs Earn Academic All-American Honors

TUSCALOOSA - Shelton State Community College placed 33 student-athletes on the 2024-25 NJCAA Academic All-American team, announced Friday morning. 

The 33 student-athletes represented seven different teams. 

"We have an outstanding tradition of academic and athletic success at Shelton State," Athletics Director Cara Crosslin said.  

 "We are very fortunate to have the resources to succeed both on and off the field. Jessica Bates (Shelton State Athletic Academic Advisor) works hard to maintain that success with our student-athletes."

Shelton State had three First-Team Academic All-American selections with a perfect 4.0 GPA, including James Graphos (baseball), Chloe Mitchell (softball) and Alana Obianozie (women's basketball). 

The Bucs had 10 Second-Team Academic All-Americans, posted a 3.80 to 3.99 GPA. 

The second team honorees are Briana Adams (women's basketball), Michael Brewer III (men's golf), William Etheridge (baseball), Aspen Gerald (softball), Jackson Hill (men's golf), Hattie Hurst (women's cross country), Chandler Hutton (men's cross country), Abethany James (women's basketball), Trenton Shirley (baseball), and Rita Walker (women's cross country). 

A total of 20 Shelton State student-athletes were Third-Team Academic All-Americans with a 3.80 to 3.79 GPA.

That list includes Philip Brewer (men's golf), Lauren Coker (softball), Alexis Darnell (softball), Layla Davis (women's basketball), Gehrig Donaldson (women's basketball manager), Dylan Fikes (softball), River Friend (men's golf), Tripp Gann (baseball), William Harrison (men's cross country), Jackson Henderson (baseball), Sawyer Hobbs (women's golf), Julie Nekolna (women's basketball), Brennen Northcutt (men's golf), Paxton Ponder (baseball), Jordan Randsell (women's golf), Jack Sanderson (baseball), Alana Spann (softball), Gabe White (basketball), Tyeshia Williams (softball) and Weston Wright (baseball). 

In addition to the success in the classroom, the Bucs had a banner year in the field winning two national championships and three more teams with Top 8 finishes. 

The cheerleading squad and women's golf team won the national championship. The cheerleaders have 14 championships, while women's golf captured its first. Overall, the Bucs have 17 overall national championships.

The women's basketball team played for their first national championship, finishing as the national runner up. 

The baseball team advanced to the NJCAA World Series for the eighth time and third straight year. The Bucs (48-14) had the second-highest win total in school history.

The women's cross country team advanced to the national meet.