The NCAA has named four student-athletes as Accelerating Academic Success Program honorees.The four received the AASP Student-Athlete Career Development Award, which provides student-athletes who are pursuing careers in intercollegiate athletics with direct access to select NCAA student-athlete professional development programming this year.
The four student-athletes are:
- Nour Gueblaoui, Western Illinois, women's tennis, a general studies major.
- Brynna Mardis, Cleveland State, women's golf, a sport and entertainment management major.
- Alexa Martinos, University of South Carolina Upstate, women's soccer, an exercise and sport science major.
- Seth Thomas, Youngstown State, men's swimming and diving, an exercise science major.
AASP was established in 2012 by the NCAA Board of Governors (formerly the NCAA Executive Committee). Throughthe program, the NCAA has awarded more than $1 million annually to schools with limited financial resources in an effort to help them meet NCAA academic standards. The grant dollars assist the Division I schools as they develop programs and systems to increase graduation rates and to ensure student-athletes' academic success.
TheAASP Student-Athlete Career Development Awardrecipients received recognition this week at the NCAA Career in Sports Forum at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. Award requirements include attending an AASP-eligible school; being a sophomore or higher; having a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or higher; being eligible for athletics competition; and being eligible to attend two NCAA professional development events — the Career in Sports Forum and the annual AASP Conference. TheNCAA Career in Sports Forumprovides more than 200 student-athletes with career direction and insight, while theAASP Conferenceprovides limited-resource schools with tools and ideas to guide student-athletes toward academic success and graduation. The award recipients are slated to attend the AASP Conference in September.
Schools have used AASP grants in numerous ways to help student-athletes, including upgrading athletics academic tutoring centers; offering professional development for staff working on student-athlete academic success; funding computers and other technology resources and upgrades; providing student-athlete tutorial resources; and implementing student-athlete career development opportunities.
Schools interested in applying for AASP grants can get information atncaa.org.