St. John's University Athletics
Centhya 'Coco' Hart Winner Of Scholar-Baller National Academic Award
10/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 29, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. -
St. John's women's basketball senior Centhya "Coco" Hart was announced as the female winner of The Scholar-Baller® program's National Academic Momentum Award. The Scholar-Baller program in conjunction with the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS), announced the winners out of 51 nominees from 32 different colleges and universities across the country.
A male winner (one tie) was chosen from eight of the NCAS' 10 regions and a female winner (three ties) was chosen from eight of the NCAS' 10 regions as well.
Hart, one of two senior student-athletes on the Red Storm women's basketball team, was the Northeast winner and the lone winner in her sport.
Winning nominations for the Scholar-Baller National Academic Award included stories of: overcoming learning disabilities to progress academically; becoming the first in their family to graduate with a degree from college or a university; being an international student who had to persevere through hardships both academically and economically; and organizing local community service involvement within their community.
Hart was chosen for her continuous dedication to her academic studies and increase in community service involvement.
Each honoree will receive a recognition certificate and authentic Scholar-Baller® patch. In addition, the winners of each region will receive a Thinkman® or ThinkwomanTM trophy for their academic performance.
All nominees are individually and collectively a testament to the "student" in "student-athlete." Their commitment to academics and athletics is truly an inspiration.
National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS)
The NCAS is an ever-growing organization of colleges and universities that provides opportunities for current and former student-athletes to continue their pursuit of higher education, while working in the community with children to address social issues. Established in 1985, the overall mission of the NCAS is "to create a better society by focusing on educational attainment and using the power appeal of sport to positively affect social change."
Established in 1995, the Scholar-Baller® movement evolved in response to concerns that the student-athlete's athletics role increasingly superseded the student role. In order to address this issue, the founding members of Scholar-Baller® developed a groundbreaking program to bridge the gap between education and sport utilizing student-athletes' passion for entertainment and athletics. As a result, the Scholar-Baller® program has produced unprecedented outcomes in student retention and academic achievement.
