Teams: Men's Basketball, Baseball

Dena Freeman-Patton, in her third year as Georgia State's assistant director of athletics for student-athlete development, serves as the academic advisor for the men's basketball and baseball programs. Under her supervision, the Georgia State University student-athletes have increased their GPA each year and reached an all-time high grade point average of above a 3.0.

She returned to Georgia State in March 2007 after serving as academic advisor and then academic coordinator from 1997-2002.

In between, Freeman-Patton worked at Maryland (2005-07) as an associate director of academic support and career development and at North Carolina State (2002-05), where was as an academic coordinator.

Freeman-Patton lettered in basketball at Liberty University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in sports management from in 1996. She added a master's in sports administration from Georgia State in 1999.

Freeman-Patton is on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics and former Life Skills Committee Chair.

The Baltimore, Md., native is married to Samuel Patton and has a son, Cameron, 8.