Belmont University women’s basketball player Tuti Jones has been selected to the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team for the third consecutive year, according to a May 1 announcement from the association.
This recognition highlights Jones’s achievements both on and off the court. The Division I-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete Teams, now in their 24th year, honor student-athletes who excel academically and athletically.
“On behalf of the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association, I am proud to recognize and congratulate this year’s men’s and women’s scholar-athlete teams, as well as our selected scholar-athletes of the year and postgraduate scholarship award winner,” said Shaney Fink, Division I-AAA ADA President and Director of Athletics at Seattle University. “These student-athletes exemplify excellence both in the classroom and in competition, demonstrating the dedication, discipline, and balance required to succeed at the highest level. We are honored to celebrate their achievements and support their continued success beyond their collegiate careers.”
Jones was also recently named one of eleven Missouri Valley Conference winter State Farm MVC Good Neighbor Award recipients for her community involvement in Nashville while maintaining high academic standards. She is a three-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree and completed the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association “So You Want To Be A Coach” program at this year’s NCAA Women’s Final Four.
During her career at Belmont, Jones became the only player in Belmont’s NCAA era with over 1,500 points, 500 assists, and 700 rebounds. She broke Belmont’s all-time steals record on Jan. 15 against Indiana State and finished with school records including 449 steals across her career. Her total games played rank fourth-most all-time in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history.
Jones graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport administration last May and will complete her master’s degree next week while maintaining a perfect graduate GPA of 4.0 after achieving an undergraduate GPA of nearly 3.95.
To be eligible for nomination to these awards from all member institutions nationwide, nominees must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20 on a four-point scale during undergraduate study as well as participate significantly on their team.
