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Shorter's Kelly Ellison named Capital One Academic All-America
By Matt Green
TOWSON, Md. -- Shorter University senior point guard Kelly Ellison has been named to the 2012 Capital One College Division Academic All-America basketball team as selected and announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Capital One College Division Academic All-America basketball teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions.
Ellison picked up Academic All-America first team honors along with Katy Clift of Oklahoma Christian University, Brittany Roberts of Lubbock Christian University, Marissa Young of Saint Xavier University and Jennifer Jorgensen of Grand View University, who was named the women's Academic All-America of the Year.
Ellison, a business major from Columbus, Ga., sports a perfect 4.0 grade point average.She is a three-time Academic All-Southern States Athletic Conference selection and was a 2010-11 NAIA Scholar-Athlete. Ellison also earned the title of 2010-11 SSAC Female Honor Student-Athlete and was honored as the NAIA's 2011 Emil S. Liston Award winner last season.
On the court, Ellison is a two-time Southern States Athletic Conference and NAIA All-America selection. She is Shorter's all-time leader in assists with 500 and ranks fourth all-time in school history in steals with 176. Her 184 assists so far in 2011-12 are a single-season Shorter record and Ellison needs just 14 points to reach 1,000 for her career.
Ellison is currently averaging 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds for the 22nd-ranked Lady Hawks (23-5). Her 6.6 assists per game lead the country.
Ellison's Academic All-America honor comes on the heels of her Capital One Academic All-District selection one month ago.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current 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.
