Tusculum's Sutton and Carson-Newman's Wykle Named to Academic All-District® Women's Basketball First Team

ROCK HILL S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Tusculum University graduate student Maddie Sutton and Carson-Newman's sophomore guard and SAC Players of the Year Braelyn Wykle were named to the 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-District® Division II Women's Basketball First Team. 

The 2020-21 Academic All-District® Women's Basketball Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes basketball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and the NAIA. 

First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team (if applicable) Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in late May.

Four of the 6 members of the 2020-21 Academic All-District® Division II Women's Basketball first team have at least a 3.81 G.P.A. or higher, with two student-athletes maintaining a perfect 4.00 GPA. 

Sutton a guard from Walland, Tenn., closed out an incredible career for the Pioneers this past winter, where she helped lead her team to two consecutive South Atlantic conference Championship titles. She was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player while scoring a game-high 27 points.  Sutton earned SAC Astroturf Women's Basketball Player of the week twice this season, while also being named to the WBCA Honorable Mention All-America Team. She went on to also make the D2CCA First Team All-America team and Tusculum's Female Athlete of the Year award.

Wykle a sophomore from Greeneville, Tenn., was named the 2020-21 South Atlantic Player of the Year after being named Freshman of the Year last season. She was named Carson-Newman's Female Athlete of the Year this past Tuesday after leading her team to 15-2 conference record and an NCAA Southeast Regional appearance. Wykle was also named to the WBCA and D2CCA Honorable Mention Teams, making her the first underclassman since 1982 to receive these honors.  

The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CoSIDA Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA national office.

Full First Team List for District 3

Name                School                               Yr.        GPA                  Major

Allie Downing      Belmont Abbey College       Sr.       3.98                  Accounting / Business Management

Destiny Johnson  Lees-McRae College            Jr.        4.00                  Education

Maria Kuhlman    Belmont Abbey College       Sr.        3.99                  Theology 

Julianne Sutton   University of North Georgia Gr.        3.46/4.00          Kinesiology (UG) / Kinesiology (G)

Maddie Sutton   Tusculum University        Gr.       3.55/3.87        Sport Management (UG) / Sports Admin (G)

Braelyn Wykle   Carson-Newman University  So.   3.81                General Studies

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