Coley named to Capital One Academic All-District first team

Support Jerica Coley by visiting the newly launched website HolyColey.com

The 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-District Women’s Basketball Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), have been released and FIU’s Jerica Coley has earned first-team recognition for District 4.

jerica The accolade marks the first of its kind for Coley’s career. An outstanding student, the junior owns a cumulative GPA of 3.34 while majoring in dietetics and nutrition.

The Academic All-District teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. The teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada.  This is the second year of the expanded Academic All-America program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, where first, second and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later.

Coley currently leads the nation in scoring with a clip of 24.7 points per game, as she has scored in double-figures in 19 of 20 games this season and in 76 of 86 career contests. The reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year has registered 12, 20-plus point outings and eight, 30-plus point performances in 2012-13. A 2012 Associated Press All-America selection, Coley ranks second on the FIU career charts for scoring average (20.8 ppg) and her career point total of 1,789 ranks fifth in program history. This season, the All-America candidate has been responsible for 40.1 percent of the Panthers’ scoring efforts.

On Jan. 29, the FIU Athletic Media Relations Department, in conjunction with website partner XOS Digital, launched HolyColey.com, a campaign website designed to promote Coley. Fans are encouraged to visit the website throughout the remainder of the 2012-13 season, and to use the Twitter hash tags #HolyColey and #FIU when posting on social media.

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