Danny Pfrank

GoSycamores.com

ATLANTA – Indiana State University’s women’s basketball program has brought home a national award this week with the announcement of the 2008-09 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.  The Sycamores top all other Division I programs, tallying a team GPA of 3.645 last season.

Head coach Jim Wiedie and his staff are no stranger to the top of the Academic Team Honor Roll list however.  This is the third time that Indiana State has claimed the top spot on the list and the eighth consecutive season that the Sycamores have appeared in the top 25.  Indiana State previously topped the list in 2003 and 2005. The Sycamores have placed in the Top 13 on the WBCA's Honor Roll rankings in each of the last eight years and have been in the top 3 seven times over that same timeframe.

Each student-athlete on the 2008-09 roster for Indiana State earned a GPA of 3.25 or better, with six members recording a perfect 4.0.

“We are truly honored to receive this award," said Indiana State head coach Jim Wiedie. "I believe it’s a testament to the type of young ladies we recruit at Indiana State, their commitment to academic excellence and the tremendous support they receive from our Academic Services Center. I’m extremely proud of our players for accomplishing their goal of being No. 1.”

Individually Kelsey Luna was named an ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-American this past year, giving the program four Academic All-Americans over the past four years. Luna also captured the Prairie Farms Missouri Valley Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year award, becoming the fourth Sycamore to take the league's top academic honor in the eight year history of the honor.

Three other Missouri Valley Conference schools joined ISU in the top 25.  Northern Iowa came in sixth with a team GPA of 3.437, Wichita State finished 14^th with a 3.361 team GPA and Evansville placed 19^th at a 3.336 team GPA.  The University of North Dakota came in second behind the Sycamores at a GPA clip of 3.580.