Dec. 13, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind. – Former University of Notre Dame All-American and Academic All-American Ruth Riley, the consensus national player of the year in women’s basketball in 2001 and already winner of an NCAA post-graduate scholarship, today was named a recipient of the NCAA Today’s Top VIII Award. The Today’s Top VIII Award winners are a group of distinguished student-athletes from the 2001 calendar year who will be recognized at the 37th annual NCAA Honors Dinner, January 13, in Indianapolis, for athletics, academic achievement, character and leadership.
This year’s selections include the 2001 NCAA Woman of the Year, the 2001 Daktronics Division II Basketball Player of the Year, one of the nation’s top collegiate punt returners and receivers, a 28-time All-American, a three-time NCAA champion who is also vice-president of her school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association first-team all-American, a golfer who is only one of four golfers ever to be named a four-time, first-team all-American, and the 2001 Women’s Naismith College Player of the Year who helped lead her team to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship title.
In addition to their athletics accomplishments, the NCAA Today’s Top VIII recipients have earned numerous academic honors, have volunteered countless hours to community projects and have served as role models for their academic institutions and to their peers.
This year’s selections are Macy, Ind., product Riley, Kimberly Black, a swimmer from the University of Georgia, Emily Bloss, a basketball and outdoor track and field student-athlete from Emporia State University, Andr? Davis, a football player and indoor and outdoor track and field student-athlete from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Misty Hyman, a swimmer from Stanford University, Leah Juno, an indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country student-athlete from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, Nancy Metcalf, a volleyball player from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and Bryce Molder, a golfer from Georgia Institute of Technology.
A two-time Associated Press first team All-American, Riley was selected as the 2001 BIG EAST Player of the Year and the AP and Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year after helping lead the Notre Dame women’s basketball team to the school’s first-ever national title last spring. Off the court, Riley was selected as the Verizon Academic All-America Team Member of the Year after being named first team Academic All-American for two consecutive years. She also was awarded with an NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
Riley averaged 19 points and eight rebounds a game, leading Notre Dame to a 34-2 record. The former Irish center is the only player in Notre Dame history to score more than 2,000 points and grab more than 1,000 rebounds.
An eight-time Dean’s List selection at Notre Dame, Riley graduated in May with a 3.64 grade-point average in psychology and sociology. She was also selected as the BIG EAST women’s basketball scholar-athlete of the year and the BIG EAST women’s scholar-athlete of the year for all sports. Riley received the university’s highest scholar-athlete honor when she was awarded the Byron V. Kanaley Award at the 2001 Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet.
Recognition for the group at the Honors Dinner is in conjunction with the NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. CBS Sports broadcaster Clark Kellogg will serve as master of ceremonies for the event. Kellogg, a graduate of Ohio State University, was a standout basketball player at his alma mater and the 1982 No. 1 draft pick of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.
The Today’s Top VIII honorees are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee comprised of eight athletics administrators at member institutions, conferences and nationally distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes. The members of the NCAA Honors Committee are: Harry Carson, president, Harry Carson, Inc., Eugene F. Corrigan, commissioner emeritus, Atlantic Coast Conference (and former director of athletics at Notre Dame), Joseph N. Crowley, regents’ professor/president emeritus, University of Nevada, Clyde Doughty Jr., athletics director, New York Institute of Technology, Jack Ford, ABC news anchor/correspondent, Jo Ann Harper, senior associate athletics director, Dartmouth College, Karen L. Johnson, director of institutional research, Alfred University, and Valerie Richardson, assistant commissioner, West Coast Conference.
Potential candidates are nominated by NCAA member institutions and selected by the committee, which is chaired by Richardson.