ATLANTA-Turner Sports recently began the second year of the NCAA Digital Internship program with 11 college graduates participating for the upcoming year.Among those 11 was recent men's basketball star Jihad Ali, who recently graduated with his masters in sports administration.

The interns were chosen from a field of more than 1,000 applicants and hail from nine different college and universities and seven different states.  The internship program, which is operated by Turner Sports Interactive and lasts for a period of 11 months, is designed to provide on-the-job learning experiences for college graduates who have a strong desire to pursue a career in the digital sports industry.

Ali finished his career by earning All-CAA Third Team honors in 2012, leading the Panthers to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. With 126 career games played, Ali set a new school mark, ending his career averaging 7.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, shooting just under 40 percent.

The NCAA Digital interns have a first-hand opportunity to assist in covering and promoting the NCAA's 89 Championships, as well as being involved in numerous projects surrounding the 2013 Division I Men's Basketball Championship. The interns day-to-day focus and responsibilities are on the NCAA Digital portfolio which includes NCAA.com, March Madness Live (MML) and NCAA Mobile.

“Our NCAA Digital Internship Program provides an opportunity for recent college graduates to gain invaluable work experience in the sports media industry,” said Mark Johnson, Vice President of Business Operations, Turner Sports. “We're thrilled to have this year's class join our team.”

The Turner Sports and NCAA Internship Program is part of an initiative conceived from the 14-year television, internet and wireless rights agreement in which Turner manages and operates the NCAA digital portfolio and strengthens coverage of all 89 NCAA championships.  NCAA Digital encompasses NCAA.com, March Madness Live (MML) and additional NCAA digital platforms including mobile web and applications, as well as other connected devices.

Visit the Turner Sports online pressroom for additional press materials; follow Turner Sports on Twitter at @TurnerSportsPR.

About the NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.  The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions—AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola—and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—Allstate, Buick, Enterprise, Infiniti, LG, Lowe's, Northwestern Mutual, Reese's (Hershey's), Unilever, UPS and Wheat Thins (Kraft).

*NCAA and March Madness are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

About Turner Sports
Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is an industry leader in televised and online sports programming, airing championship-level sporting events on TBS, TNT and truTV, and managing some of the most popular sports sites on the Internet. Turner Sports' television lineup includes the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, NASCAR and professional golf. The company's digital portfolio includes Bleacher Report, NASCAR.COM, NCAA.com and March Madness Live, PGATOUR.COM and PGA.com, as well as an accompanying collection of mobile websites and connected device apps. Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA Mobile, the NBA Game Time App, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.