ATLANTA – A total of nine Georgia State student-athletes were honored by the Scholar Baller program, in conjunction with the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) earlier this week when the organization announced the recipients of the 2015 Academic Momentum Awards.

Top nominations were categorized into three teams based on each student-athlete's academic improvement and the impact each student-athlete's academic performance had on his or her classmates, teammates, academic advisors, and professors. A total of 28 award recipients from NCAS partner schools were selected for the Academic Momentum Award First Team, 16 recipients were chosen for the Academic Momentum Award Second Team, and 9 recipients were selected for the Academic Momentum Award Third Team.

First Team Academic Momentum Award recipients included volleyball's Deidra Bohannon and Morgan Jackson from women's basketball.

Brie Haynes from women's soccer, Felipe Jaworski from men's tennis, women's golfer Solene Le Coz and baseball's Joey Roach earned second team honors.

Beach volleyball's Katelyn Rawls, football's Chandon Sullivan and Linn Timmermann from women's tennis all earned third team honors.

“We are extremely proud of all of these student-athletes,” Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development Brad Horton said. “Georgia State takes great pride in having well-rounded student-athletes and to see this group honored is very special.”

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the Scholar Baller movement evolved in response to concerns that the student-athlete's athletics role increasingly superseded the student role.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.

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 education attainment and using the power appeal of sport to positively affect social change.”