BATON ROUGE — Seventeen student-athletes, including women’s basketball consensus National Player of the Year Seimone Augustus, were among the LSU students who earned their degrees as part of ceremonies on Thursday.
As 15 student-athletes received undergraduate degrees, two former Tigers earned postgraduate degrees, including former LSU women’s soccer star Artie Brown, who earned her master’s degree in kinesiology.
Augustus, who was forced to miss the ceremonies while playing for the United States in the World University Games, led LSU to a second straight NCAA Final Four and the Lady Tiger’s first Southeastern Conference regular season championship in school history this past season.
The general studies graduate from Baton Rouge averaged 20.1 points and 4.6 rebounds on her way to winning the Wade Trophy, the Naismith Award, the John R. Wooden Award and the National Player of the Year honor from both the Associated Press and the United State Basketball Writers Association.
Florence Williams joined Augustus as LSU’s two women’s basketball graduates. The three-year letterwinner scored a career high 16 points in the SEC Tournament semifinal win over Georgia last season. After having to sit out the 2001-02 season as a partial qualifier, Williams earned her degree in general studies in just four years.
The LSU football team led the way with six graduates, including running back Shyrone Carey and defensive back Ronnie Prude. Carey, a New Orleans native, earned his degree in general studies, while Prude, a native of Shreveport, graduated in communication studies. Joining Carey and Prude was Kevin Steltz, who graduated in general studies, and former Tigers Michael Harrison and James McLachlan, who both earned degrees in general studies. In addition, Christopher McCauley earned his master’s degree in accounting.
Four members of the renowned men’s and women’s track teams earned degrees. Katie McKeever, who finished her career ranked among the top Lady Tigers’ all-time top five performers in four separate throwing events, earned her degree in kinesiology. A trio of athletes also earned degrees in general studies, including Calah Young, who holds the school record in the women’s pole vault, and former sprinter Anthony Ewers and Tania Woods.
A trio of women’s soccer players earned degrees, including Brown, who earned her master’s degree. A recipient of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award, the LSU career goals scoring leader was a two-time All-SEC and All-Louisiana selection while also earning Academic All-District honors.
Brown was joined by three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection Suzanne Drake, who graduated in kinesiology, and Jennifer deHay, who earned her degree in civil engineering.
The 2001 Louisiana Softball Newcomer of the Year, Christy Connor, earned her degree in general studies. She was a member of LSU’s first Women’s College World Series team before becoming a student assistant coach for the second WCWS appearance.
Former women’s swimmer and SEC Academic Honor Roll selection Cynthia Martinez earned her degree in kinesiology to round out the list of student-athlete graduates.
2005 LSU Student-Athlete Summer Graduates
Football (6)
Shyrone Carey, General Studies
Michael Harrison, General Studies
James McLachlan, General Studies
Ronnie Prude, Communication Studies
Kevin Steltz, General Studies
Christopher McCauley, Accounting (Graduate School)
Track and Field (4)
Anthony Ewers, General Studies
Tania Woods, General Studies
Calah Young, General Studies
Katharine McKeever, Kinesiology
Women’s Soccer (3)
Suzanne Drake, Kinesiology
Jennifer deHay, Civil Engineering
Artie Brown, Kinesiology (Graduate School)
Women’s Basketball (2)
Seimone Augustus, General Studies
Florence Williams, General Studies
Softball (1)
Christy Connor, General Studies
Swimming and Diving (1)
Cynthia Martinez, Kinesiology