(Portions of this story courtesy of the NCAA)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Thirty women, selected
from a group of nearly 430 nominees, have been chosen as the top 30
honorees for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. Among the 30 was
former Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference student-athlete
Sharwil Bell, who was named the SCAC's Co-Woman of the Year in
June.
Bell is the second consecutive SCAC Woman-of-the-Year nominee to
earn Top 30 honoree status, following Trinity University's Hayley Emerick, who became
just the league's second-ever top nine finalist in 2010-11.
Trinity's Christyn Schumann became the league's first-ever top-nine
finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year award in 2006.
The top 30 women are composed of 10 honorees from each NCAA
division and span various NCAA sports. In September, three
finalists will be chosen from each division to form nine finalists
for the award. The 2012 Woman of Year will be announced and the top
30 women will be honored during an Oct. 14 ceremony in
Indianapolis.
Bell is the first student-athlete from Rhodes College to earn the SCAC Woman-of-the-Year honor. A Biology Major with a Business Minor and the owner of a 3.94 grade-point average, she received the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and was a finalist for the 2012 Josten’s Trophy – an award given annually to one male and one female Division III basketball student-athlete who excels in the classroom, on the court and in the community.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Bell was a two-time First Team
All-SCAC performer her last two seasons in the conference and was
selected Third Team in 2009-10 when she was also recognized as the
league’s Newcomer-of-the-Year.
A Capital One Academic All-America® Women's Basketball First
Team selection, Bell averaged 15.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2
steals per game during the 2011-12 season and shot 43.3 percent
from the field. She led the Lynx to an 18-8 overall mark in
2011-12, which tied the school record for single-season wins.
Bell, who transferred to Rhodes from Elon, ended her three-year
career run with the Lynx with 1,247 points (sixth in school
history) and 574 rebounds and was voted team MVP all three seasons.
Most recently, she was named the recipient of the Rebecca Rish Gay
award – signifying the top women’s senior athlete at
Rhodes College.
In addition to her successes on the court and her studies in the
classroom, Bell filled her little spare time with various campus
and community service activities. She served as Vice President of
the Mortar Board National Honor Society as well as Secretary and
Vice President of Rhodes’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
and has been a campus Peer Mentor for Serving Our Students since
2010. Away from campus, Bell has worked as a Physical Therapy
Shadow at both Methodist University Hospital and the Campbell
Clinic for Orthopedics.
"Sharwil has been the premier student-athlete on our campus
for three years," said Rhodes head women's basketball coach
Matt Dean. "Besides being a tremendous player, she became the
best leader I have ever coached. In my opinion she is the finest
student-athlete in all of NCAA intercollegiate athletics. It has
been a pleasure to coach her these last three years."
The top 30 honorees reflect the pillars of the Woman of the Year award, with outstanding achievements in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. For example:
- Cumulatively, the top 30 earned a 3.87 grade-point average and more than 90 Academic All-America honors.
- The top 30 earned nearly 20 national championships (individual and team) and nearly 110 All-America honors.
- The top 30 volunteered for more than 375 organizations during their college careers.
- Many served as team captains and held leadership positions in various campus and community organizations.
Alecia Shields-Gadson of Coppin State, NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee chair, described the extraordinary commitment to academics and athletics by each of the top 30 honorees.
“Being an NCAA student-athlete takes dedication to both academic and athletic excellence,” said Shields-Gadson, who will chair the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee starting next month. “These women rose to that challenge and became leaders on the court, in the classroom and in their communities. The Woman of the Year honorees are excellent role models and will most certainly continue to make a positive impact on the world.”
For the complete list of the top 30 NCAA Woman of the Year finalists, click here.
