BATON ROUGE, La. – The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes honored six student-athletes for their academic achievements and community service for the month of January.
Each month, five student-athletes are recognized for their academic improvement, dedication and proven ability. In addition, one student-athlete is chosen through LSU’s Student-Athlete Affairs program for their volunteerism and commitment to the community.
January’s student-athletes of the month are Sydney Springfield [Softball], Devon Dabney [Women’s Swimming and Diving], Duop Reath [Men’s Basketball], Aleia Hobbs [Women’s Track and Field] and Collin Strall [Baseball]. Rebecca Little [Women’s Track and Field] was selected as the Shaquille O’Neal Life Skills Program Student-Athlete of the Month.
Springfield, Dabney, and Strall are sports administration majors; Reath and Hobs are interdisciplinary studies majors and Little is a finance major.
Springfield is a freshman from Flower Mound, Texas. As a high school senior, she was named the Class 6-6A Offensive Player of the Year. Throughout the course of that season she had a .514 batting average with six home runs and 20 RBIs. She broke her high school’s career home run record hitting a total of 25 over the course of her four years.
Dabney is in her senior year. She set the LSU record for the 500 freestyle at the SEC championships last season with a time of 4:45.91. In 2015 she was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Reath is a junior, but this is his first season at LSU. Reath is currently second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game and pulling down 6.2 rebounds and is the team’s active leader in the category. In his debut against Wofford, the Perth, Australia, native scored 23 points and grabbed 14 boards in the 91-69 LSU win.
Hobbs is a sprinter on the Track and Field team. Prior to coming to LSU, the New Orleans native was one of the most dominant sprinters in the history of Louisiana high school Track and Field. As a freshman, she emerged as one of the top sprinters in the NCAA. The two-time All-American, was limited last year during her sophomore season due to an injury, but still managed to have a great season.
Strall is a senior from Suwanee, Georgia. This is his third year at LSU. During the 2015 season the pitcher had a 3-0 record while making 22 appearances and posting a 3.93 earned run average over 18.1 innings. He was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2015 and 2016.
Little was selected as the Shaquille O’Neal Life Skills Program Student-Athlete of the Month for her dedication to the community, participating in numerous service events throughout her LSU career. She is a distance runner from Austin, Texas. Prior to coming to LSU, she served on the National Charity League for seven years and was the recipient of the Presidential Service Award at the silver level. During her redshirt freshman season, she was named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll. The next season, in 2016, she was a leader of LSU’s distance group and became one of the 10 fastest Lady Tigers in the indoor 5,000 meters running her indoor personal best of 18:00.15. She was named to the 2016 SEC Academic Honor Roll.
For putting forth extra effort in the classroom and community in addition to their rigorous academic and competition schedules, these six student-athletes will have their pictures displayed on the wall in the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes.
The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes is a 54,000 square foot facility comprised of an academic affairs, student affairs and an information technology team, serving more than 530 student-athletes. The purpose is to provide an all-inclusive, student-centered support structure for all student-athletes from matriculation, through graduation and life beyond.