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2019-20 Academic All-America® Teams and Honorees
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Grace Barry of Concordia (Neb.) Spotlights Academic All-America® NAIA Women's Basketball Teams
CoSIDA would like to thank Academic All-America® Hall of Fame Class of 2020 inductee and 2001-02 Academic All-America of the Year recipient Stacey Dales (Oklahoma women's basketball) for her interviews with the 2019-20 honorees. Dales went on to a successful professional basketball career in the WNBA and is currently a reporter for the NFL Network. Follow her @StaceyDales. Thanks to CoSIDA corporate partner Blinder for providing the technology to produce the interviews.
Women's Basketball Player Grace Barry of Concordia (Neb.) Named As 2019-20 NAIA Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year
NAIA Academic All-America® of the Year: PDF |
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AUSTIN, Texas – Senior women’s basketball player Grace Barry of Concordia (Neb.) University has been named as the 2019-20 Academic All-America® of the Year for the NAIA, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The Academic All-America® NAIA program is financially supported by the NAIA national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2019-20 NAIA Google Cloud Academic All-America® teams.
This is the second year the CoSIDA All-America® of the Year for the NAIA has been recognized. Women’s swimmer Christina Klouda from the University of the Cumberlands earned the CoSIDA Academic All-America® of the Year for the NAIA last year.
A senior secondary education major from Lincoln, Nebraska, owns a 3.99 cumulative grade-point average. She was named to the Academic All-America® team and was recognized as the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year in the women’s basketball program.
“I am grateful and honored to receive this award because of what it stands for and knowing the numerous other tremendous student-athletes throughout the country that excel both in their respective sports and in the classroom,” said Barry. “This award stands for not one or the other, athletic success or academic excellence, but a culmination of them both. It stands for the realization of one’s desire to be the best one can possibly be in all facets of life. This award is also a testament to the incredible people who have guided and supported me throughout my collegiate athletic career and academic career.”
Barry spearheaded Concordia to the 2019 national championship – the first-ever in the program’s history - while earning Most Valuable Player of the NAIA Division II Championship Tournament. Barry led the Bulldogs to two consecutive Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships.
In 2019-20, Barry picked up her second all-conference honor while posting 13.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.21 steals per game. Concordia reached the second round of the NAIA Division II National Championship before the season was halted due to CoVID-19. Barry was named to the NAIA All-America second team as a senior.
“Grace Barry is an amazing human being,” said Concordia head women’s basketball coach Drew Olson. “Her special talent on the court is obvious after watching her only a few minutes – her vision, ball handling ability, her flare - but she is so much more than that. She has a constant positive spirit that connects everyone around her, on and off the court. She has love, compassion, and understanding of others and their needs. Her and her teammates competitive greatness spurred our team to the program’s first national championship. And her message after losing her final season to CoVID showed her values, maturity, and perspective. I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to be her coach.”
Barry helped lead the Bulldogs to a 67-5 ledger during her two-year stay in Seward, Nebraska. She was ranked third in assists (198) and seventh in assists per game (5.82) in NAIA Division II statistics during the 2019-20 season. Barry also scored 1,081 points in her career, split between Concordia and the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
The CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® of the Year award winner will be announced Tuesday (July 21) followed by the Division II winner Wednesday (July 22) and the Division I honoree Thursday (July 23).
Grace Barry led Concordia to the 2019 NAIA national championship title and picked up MVP honors in the process.
Barry held a 3.99 GPA in Secondary Education.
Barry averaged 13.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.2 steals per game in 2019-20.
Concordia went 67-5 with Barry as its point guard the last two seasons.
2019-20 Sport-By-Sport NAIA Academic All-America Team Member of the Year Award Winners
| Name |
Sport |
Class |
Major, G.P.A. |
| Paige Alt, Coastal Georgia |
Softball |
Sr. |
Elementary and Special Education, 3.88 |
| Grace Barry, Concordia (Neb.) |
Women’s Basketball |
Sr. |
Secondary Education, 3.99 |
| Danielle DeCastro, Oregon Tech |
Women’s Track/XC |
Sr. |
Mechanical Engineering, 4.00 |
| Carly Ferguson, Missouri Baptist |
Women’s At-Large |
Sr. |
Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, 4.00 |
| Nate Foddrill, Spring Arbor |
Men’s Soccer |
Sr. |
Actuarial Science, 4.00 |
| Rebecca Frick, Dakota Wesleyan |
Volleyball |
Sr. |
Biology, 4.00 |
| Nina Haeberlin, Keiser |
Women’s Soccer |
Sr. |
Business, 4.00 |
| Hilton Joseph, Waldorf |
Football |
Gr. |
Business, 4.00 (UG); Organizational Leadership, 4.00 |
| Lukas Macek, Keiser |
Men’s At-Large |
Sr. |
International Business, 3.91 |
| Alex Martin, College of Idaho |
Men’s Track/XC |
Sr. |
Biology, 3.96 |
| Troy Puga, Friends |
Baseball |
Sr. |
Health Science/Biochemistry, 4.00 |
| Nic Reed, Olivet Nazarene |
Men’s Basketball |
Sr. |
Economics and Finance, 4.00 |
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Michael MacEachern, Young Harris College | Academic All-America® Co-Director for Publicity
mfmaceachern@yhc.edu | (706) 379-5106