Surry Places Thirteen on NJCAA All-Academic Teams
Charlotte, NC – The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) recently released the 2024-2025 All-Academic Teams recognizing student-athletes from across the country for their dedication in the classroom. Surry had thirteen student-athletes earn All-Academic accolades for the past academic year.
Surry has the distinction of being the only two-year college nationally to have multiple NJCAA All-Academic recipients along with being named an NJCAA All-Academic team, having an NJCAA All-American, being ranked and competing in a NJCAA National Championship along with earning the NJCAA National Sportsmanship Award. Incredibly, the Knights earned the honor in both baseball and softball.
"To accomplish something that no other two-year institution did nationally is an incredible and extremely prestigious honor," said Mark Tucker, Athletic Director. "I am extremely proud of our student-athletes on earning these esteemed NJCAA Academic Awards. This is recognition of how diligent our student-athletes work at achieving academic excellence while competing at the highest level."
Student-athletes are eligible to earn academic honors by achieving an overall grade point average of 3.60 or higher for the 2024-25 academic year. The criteria for the three All-Academic teams are NJCAA All-Academic First Team - 4.00 grade point average, NJCAA All-Academic Second Team - 3.80-3.99 grade point average, and NJCAA All-Academic Third Team - 3.60-3.79 grade point average.
First Team honors from Surry went to Jackson Greene (Hough HS, Cornelius, NC) and Carley Joyner (Forbush HS, East Bend, NC). Both were also All-Academic recipients in 2023-2024.
Second Team recipients were Will Bradshaw (Jesse Carson HS, Salisbury, NC), Bryce Mabe (Atkins HS, Winston-Salem, NC), Cade Gaither (West Iredell HS, Statesville, NC), Chase James (Asheville Christian HS, Fairview, NC), Randy Holleman (West Iredell HS, Statesville, NC), Austin Lapham (Alexander Central HS, Taylorsville, NC), and Nichole Cloke (J.M. Robinson HS, Albemarle, NC),
Third Team honors went to Elijah Palmer (West Rowan HS, Mount Ulla, NC), Konor Davis (Alexander Central HS, Taylorsville, NC), Nohr Issa (Starmount HS, Boonville, NC), and Brooks Kinser (North Iredell HS, Statesville, NC).
"We had over half of our student-athletes named to the Region 10 All-Academic team during this past academic year, and now to have thirteen of our student-athletes honored with a national academic award is truly exceptional," added Tucker.
In addition, the Knights were one of only two Region 10 colleges with multiple All-Academic teams with those teams being ranked nationally during the season. The Surry baseball team was ranked as high as 6th nationally while the softball team peaked with a national ranking of 9th during the regular season. Both teams advanced to their respective World Series finishing 5th nationally. Surry had the third most All-Academic performers in baseball with 11 trailing only Catawba Valley (13) and Lenoir (13). Both the baseball and softball teams were recognized by the NJCAA for academic excellence with a combined grade point average above a 3.0.
For a full list of all student-athletes honored, visit www.njcaa.org
NJCAA All-Academic First Team (4.0 grade point average)
Jackson Greene (Hough HS, Cornelius, NC/Baseball)
Carley Joyner (Forbush HS, East Bend, NC/Softball)
NJCAA All-Academic Second Team (3.80 - 3.99 grade point average)
Will Bradshaw (Jesse Carson HS, Salisbury, NC/Baseball)
Bryce Mabe (Atkins HS, Winston-Salem, NC/Baseball)
Cade Gaither (West Iredell HS, Statesville, NC/Baseball)
Chase James (Asheville Christian HS, Fairview, NC/Baseball)
Randy Holleman (West Iredell HS, Statesville, NC/Baseball)
Austin Lapham (Alexander Central HS, Taylorsville, NC/Baseball)
Nichole Cloke (J.M. Robinson HS, Albemarle, NC/Softball)
NJCAA All-Academic Third Team (3.60 – 3.79 grade point average)
Elijah Palmer (West Rowan HS, Mount Ulla, NC/Baseball)
Konor Davis (Alexander Central HS, Taylorsville, NC/Baseball)
Nohr Issa (Starmount HS, Boonville, NC/Baseball)
Brooks Kinser (North Iredell HS, Statesville, NC/Baseball)