HITTIN’ THE BOOKS: 3RC athletes receive All-Academic honors

Three Rivers College athletes score big in the classroom by receiving a spot on the NJCAA All-Academic team for the 2022-2023 season.

Nearly 30 student-athletes excelled as a whole in the classroom and in their respective sports. Athletic director and head Men’s basketball coach Brian Bess said it’s one thing to be an elite athlete, but handling business in the classroom can take a player much further.

“As the athletic director, we want all athletes to get their degrees and excel in the classroom,” Bess said. I think it's really important to focus on the student aspect just as much as we do the athlete. I'm really proud of all the other coaches, they've got several that also did well this year.”

Bess said when it comes to coaching, it’s a big deal for players to do well in the classroom because it's one less thing to worry about with players.

Incoming sophomore guard DJ Prater finished the year with a 3.68 GPA and landed a spot as third-team All-Academic.

“DJ is always going to be reliable,” Bess said. “He's always going to be in class. He does a good job; as a coach, you want all your guys to do that. I think it sets a great example for the rest of us.”

Prater said getting recognition for his grades and as a student-athlete felt great. Getting his work done in the classroom is important for him. His main goal is to get his degree while also maintaining a good work ethic playing basketball.

Prater agreed that handling business in the classroom releases the stress of performing on the court.

“It really gives me one less thing to worry about when playing,” Pater said. “It feels good to just focus on basketball. Getting all my academics done makes it a little bit better for me to be free on the court. My advice to the incoming students is to be a student first and get your work done. Stay consistent with the workouts and be the first one there. Having your schoolwork out the way really helps with everything.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Lady Raiders basketball team finished as one of the NJCAA Academic Teams of the Year with a GPA of 3.06, with three players making the academic All-American team.

Ahniya Melton was on the 1st team, Makenzi Davis made the 2nd team and Aisja Strachan was on the 3rd team. Head women’s basketball coach Alex Wiggs said he’s impressed with how his team handled their school work and how they came prepared to play each game.

“I think it just goes to show that this program is not only about winning on the court but how important it is for our girls to get a degree,” Wiggs said. “It feels great to have a team that can make it to the national tournament for three straight years and get things done in the classroom.”

Wiggs said being a good basketball player is only half of what’s needed to play in college, a player must have a way to separate themselves, and having outstanding grades is one way to make them more appealing to other coaches.

When a player steps through the doors of Three Rivers College, Wiggs has three major things he wants to see them accomplish before they leave.

“Everybody that comes here will get an education,” Wiggs said. “We've graduated 100% of our student-athletes over the last seven years and will make sure to keep that tradition going. Secondly, working to ensure they're good citizens within the community and a good role model.

Above all, we're going to win basketball games. If they handle those first two things, we’re going to win games because it means that our players have the discipline to do things the right way, leading to wins on the court.”

BASEBALL

The Raiders baseball team hit a huge milestone by having the most players on the All-Academic team. With a team composite GPA of 3.18, the Raiders had 12 members crowned as All-Academic.

The list includes Brayden Eftink, Austin Gast, Sam Pierce, Daniel Vogt, Carson Webb, Josh McDonald, Christion Cleary, Will Hathcote, Nicolas Hawkins, Steven Henley, Dalton Rudd and Ty Thatcher.

The Raiders baseball team hit a huge milestone by having the most players on the All-Academic team. With a team composite GPA of 3.18, the Raiders had 12 members crowned All-Academic.D'Courtland Christian/DAR

“I’m really happy for them and how well they’ve done off the field,” said head baseball coach Tyler Smith. “I've always said if you take care of business off the field, the field stuff takes care of itself. With grades like this, it’s allowed for our guys to go places once they leave here. When a coach hears one of the players has a high GPA, it’s easier to find them a spot anywhere.”

Though Smith is excited to have multiple players on the All-Academic team, he’s more impressed with 75% of his team having a 3.0. For the Raiders coaching staff, grades are the bread and butter to success.

“It saves us headaches when we don’t have to stand over our players to do their work,” Smith said. “Everything is much easier when we don't have to deal with off-the-field issues. I think we've shown improvement the last few years as far as getting better academically, and we've been better on the field, so it all goes hand in hand.”

SOFTBALL

The baseball team wasn’t the only one to set a new record with the most on the All-Academic team, as the Lady Raiders softball team did the same with 11 players on the list.

The list included Trista Grobe, Lexas Hagood, A.J. Agers, Camryn Casey, Allie Kelly, Audrey Rahlmann, Karlye Happold, Jessica Hulsey, Alyssa Bastien, Alaney Moore and Morgan Courtney, with eight players having a 4.0.

“We’re super proud of this team's academic excellence,” said head softball coach Jeff Null. “This is something I can’t take a lot of credit for this accomplishment, maybe just recruiting the right kids, but this is all on the girls. Having good grades was something they decided to focus on and they did an amazing job.”

Null said a team with a 3.39 GPA would never get any complaints from him. He enjoyed the fact that he didn’t have to motivate them to get good grades. He loved the group of girls he had this season and liked that they helped each other out all season.

“We take grades here very seriously,” Null said. “I don't want to worry about my players off the field. Whenever we're recruiting kids, we look at their grades and we make sure they have the type of character that will mesh well with the team.

I think when people look at this program and school, they will see that we can win ball games but also put them in a great position to land other opportunities when their grades are taken care of. When you have a winning program where grades are top priority, it helps us in every aspect.”