For the 12th time in the past 13 seasons, the VC women's basketball team has earned recognition on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for junior and community colleges. The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III; NAIA and junior/community college women's basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2015-16 season is the 21st in which the WBCA as compiled the honor rolls.
In 2015-16, the Pirates earned a No. 14-ranking on the national list for community and junior colleges with an overall team GPA of 3.016. VC was the only community college team from California recognized, and one of three California schools, Vanguard University (NAIA) and UC Santa Cruz (NCAA Div. III) were the other two, to be honored at any level.
The Pirates had 10 of the 16 players on the team post at least a 3.0 GPA for the entire academic year. They were led by five players who reached at least a 3.5 GPA, qualifying them for Academic All-State honors, including Felicia Magana, Carolyn Ruffino, Tatum Maciel, Mary Shirley and Makenna Murray.
GPAs are calculated by dividing the total number of quality points earned by each student-athlete on an institution's roster in the given academic terms by the total number of hours earned by the team. The GPAs are rounded to the nearest thousandth of a point. Per a motion passed by the WBCA Board of Directors in 2007, teams making the list of Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll must obtain at least a 3.000 overall GPA. Only 14 submissions by member coaches qualified for the 2015-16 JC/CC list.
The complete 2015-16 WBCA Academic Top 25 for junior/community colleges is as follows:
Rank | Institution | Head Coach | GPA |
1 | Northwest College | Janis Beal | 3.575 |
2 | Sheridan College | Frank McCarthy | 3.567 |
3 | Dawson Community College | Romeo Lagmay, Jr. | 3.534 |
4 | Des Moines Area Community College | Steve Krafcisin | 3.466 |
5 | Snow College | Mike Russell | 3.446 |
6 | Gulf Coast State College | Roonie Scovel | 3.250 |
7 | Minnesota West Community & Technical College | Rosalie Hayenga | 3.193 |
8 | McHenry County College | Karen Wiley | 3.148 |
9 | Frank Phillips College | Eric Rodewald | 3.137 |
10 | Johnson County Community College | Ben Conrad | 3.117 |
11 | Lincoln College | Carol Wilson | 3.089 |
12 | LaGuardia Community College | Anthony Alfaro | 3.033 |
13 | Illinois Central College | Karrie Redeker | 3.030 |
14 | Ventura College | Ned Mircetic | 3.016 |
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game as a sport for women and girls. For more information on the WBCA, visit wbca.org.