Women's Basketball No. 2 on WBCA National Academic Honor Roll

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The Ventura College women's basketball team posted a program record 3.544 team grade point average for the 2019-20 academic year to receive the No. 2 national ranking on this year's Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Honor Roll. The team achieved a 3.386 GPA in the fall and overcame the disappointment of a cancelled state tournament and the challenges of a spring semester that moved completely online due to the coronavirus health crisis to shatter the program standard with a 3.723 in the spring, earning VC's 16th WBCA Academic Honor Roll appearance in the last 17 years. The 2019-20 honor roll included 16 community colleges from around the country. This is VC's 11th Top-10 ranking since 2004, and matches their No. 2 rank achieved in 2009.

The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA and two-year GPA's inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2019-20 season is the 25th in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls. The coaches association honored 116 teams from all levels on this year's Academic Honor Roll.

The Pirates were led by a trio of perfect 4.0 GPA's during the academic year. Yasmine Ahllamara, Madison Kast and Cece Quintino earned all A's for the year while Alanna Jackson, Emma Larson and Kimora Pooler also achieved the academic standard to earn Academic All-State honors. 

"The WBCA applauds these head coaches and their teams for their commitment to academic excellence," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. " We appreciate and value the hard work and dedication the players and coaches have put forth to thrive in the classroom and on the basketball court."

A team's GPA is calculated by dividing the total number of quality points (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0) earned by the total number of academic hours attempted by all team members in the academic terms (semesters or quarters) that the season spans. Weighted grades are converted to a 4.0 scale. The GPA's are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Teams are nominated for the honor by the WBCA member head coach. A team must have a 3.000 or better GPA to be nominated.

The Pirates continue to be the nation's most-recognized academic achieving community college women's basketball program in the country. In the past 17 years, VC is the only two-year college to be recognized 16 times, while Minnesota West Community and Technical College and Lincoln College (IL) have both achieved the award 11 times. Northwest College (WY) and Seward County (KS) have each made the list nine times over that span.  Solano Community College (four times) and Cypress College (three times) are the only other California community colleges to be recognized by the WBCA for academic excellence in the past 17 years.

In all levels, four-year NAIA school Northwestern College (IA) is the only team that has been recognized more often than VC since 2004.

2019-20 WBCA Two-Year College Academic Honor Roll

Note: There were only 16 institutions eligible for nomination in the two-year college division.

About the Women's Basketball Coaches Association

Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit www.WBCA.org for more details about the Association.