For Release: Friday, March 28 – 12 noon ET

COREY KISPERT OF GONZAGA, ALIYAH BOSTON OF SOUTH CAROLINA LEAD ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® DIVISION I MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAMS

AUSTIN, Texas – Gonzaga University graduate student forward Corey Kispert and University of South Carolina sophomore guard Aliyah Boston headline the 2020-21 Academic All-America® Division I men’s and women’s basketball teams selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and announced Friday.

Kispert has been named the 2020-21 Academic All-America® of the Year for Division I men’s basketball, while Boston earned the distinction of 2020-21 Academic All-America® of the Year for Division I women’s basketball.

A native of Edmonds, Washington, Kispert is pursuing a graduate degree in business administration. Kispert, who helped lead the Zags to the NCAA national championship game, carries a 3.79 GPA in his graduate course work after earning a 3.49 as an undergrad. Kispert was recently named the Julius Erving of the Year, averaging 18.6 points a game and 5.0 rebounds. He finished the season sixth in Division I, shooting 44% from beyond the arc. He was also fifth in the country in total points (595), seventh in three-point field goals made (91), and eighth in total field goals made (209). Kispert was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year and was a consensus First Team All-American. Kispert was named a Senior CLASS All-American and was selected to the I-AAA Athletic Directors Association Scholar Athlete Team. Additionally, he was a finalist for the Trophy, Naismith Trophy, , and John R. Wooden Award.

Boston, a sophomore from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, becomes the first sophomore to be named the Academic All-America® of the Year for Division I women’s basketball (previously called the university division). The mass communications major holds a 3.81 GPA as she guided the Gamecocks to the NCAA Final Four. As a , Boston averaged a double-double for the season with 13.7 points and 11.5 rebounds, to go along with 2.6 blocks. She is a two-time Lisa Leslie Award winner as the best center in the country, a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and this past season was a unanimous First Team All-American. Boston led Division I with 357 total rebounds, while ranking fifth with 17 double-doubles. She was one of 13 players to record a triple-double during the 2020-21 season.

Three of the 17 members of the Academic All-America® Division I Men’s Basketball teams boast a perfect 4.0 GPA, including Ben Vander Plas (Ohio University), who carries a perfect GPA through both undergrad and graduate school. The five members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.79, with the entire men’s team holding a collective average GPA of 3.69.

Matt Pile (University of Nebraska Omaha) is the lone repeat selection among the Academic All-America® Division I men’s basketball teams. He earned first team honors in 2019-20 and was a third team selection during the 2018-19 season.

Seven of the 15 members of the Academic All-America® Division I women’s basketball teams sport a perfect 4.0 GPA in either undergrad or graduate school. Lainey Gosnell (Appalachian State) is the lone selection to earn a perfect GPA in both her undergrad and graduate courses. The five members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.81, with the complete15-member women’s team averaging a 3.84 GPA.

The lone repeat performer on the Academic All-America® Division I Women’s Basketball teams from last year is Vivian Gray (Texas Tech University), who garnered third team honors a season ago.

For more information regarding the Academic All-America® program, visit https://academicallamerica.com/.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Brian Alden | Academic All-America® Coordinator of Publicity

Jeff Schwartz | Academic All-America® Co-Director for Publicity NCAA DIVISION I

CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Corey Kispert, Gonzaga University

FIRST TEAM Name School Yr. GPA Major Max Abmas Oral Roberts University So. 3.69 Biomedical Chemistry Ian DuBose Wake Forest University Gr. 3.84/3.80 Liberal Studies Corey Kispert Gonzaga University Gr. 3.49/3.79 Business Administration Matt Pile (1)(%) University of Nebraska Omaha Sr. 3.95 Chemistry Franz Wagner University of Michigan So. 4.00 Organizational Studies

SECOND TEAM Name School Yr. GPA Major Charles Bassey Western Kentucky University Jr. 3.57 Interdisciplinary Studies Oscar da Silva Stanford University Sr. 3.49 Biology Cameron Krutwig Loyola University Chicago Sr. 3.45 Entrepreneurship Hunter Schofield Dixie State University Sr. 3.94 Exercise Science Ben Vander Plas Ohio University Gr. 4.00/4.00 Sports Administration (G)

THIRD TEAM Name School Yr. GPA Major Tareq Coburn Hofstra University Sr. 3.74 Community Health Cam Davis U.S. Naval Academy Sr. 3.46 Ocean Engineering Matt Dentlinger South Dakota State University Jr. 4.00 Mechanical Engineering Brady Manek University of Oklahoma Gr. 3.63 Management (UG) / MBA (G) Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Villanova University So. 3.56 Communication Luke Smith Belmont University Sr. 3.65 Business Administration Kobe Webster University of Nebraska Gr. 3.75/3.75 Educational Administration

(1) = 2019-20 1st team Academic All-America® (%) = 2018-19 3rd team Academic All-America® NCAA DIVISION I

CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Aliyah Boston, University of South Carolina

FIRST TEAM Name School Yr. GPA Major Aliyah Boston University of South Carolina So. 3.81 Mass Communications Kailey Coffey Northern Kentucky University Sr. 4.00 Chemistry / Biochemistry Vivian Gray (3) Texas Tech University Gr. 3.58/4.00 Interdisciplinary Studies Lexie Hull Stanford University Jr. 3.92 Management Science / Engineering Sam Thomas University of Arizona Gr. 3.97/4.00 Psychology (UG) / Educational Leadership (G)

SECOND TEAM Name School Yr. GPA Major Dana Evans University of Louisville Sr. 3.49 Sport Administration Ayoka Lee Kansas State University Jr. 3.88 Psychology Ali Patberg Indiana University Gr. 3.71/4.00 Recreational Administration Myah Selland South Dakota State University Jr. 3.97 Exercise Science / Community & Public Healthy Kiana Williams Stanford University Sr. 3.38 Science, Technology & Society

THIRD TEAM Name School Yr. GPA Major Laura Bagwell Katalinich University of Minnesota Gr. 3.93/4.00 Communications (UG) / Sport Management (G) Conley Chinn Belmont University Sr. 4.00 Psychology Elissa Cunane North Carolina State University Jr. 3.34 Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology Lainey Gosnell Appalachian State Gr. 4.00/4.00 Psychology Dariauna Lewis Alabama A&M University Jr. 3.77 Biology

(3) = 2019-20 3rd team Academic All-America®