Mitchell Named Among NCAA Today's Top 10
Dec. 2, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina women’s basketball alumna Tiffany Mitchell is among 10 exceptional former student-athletes the NCAA will honor as the 2017 Today’s Top 10 Award winners at the NCAA Convention in Nashville in January. Mitchell was a three-time All-American and University President’s Award winner who graduated in May 2016 with a 3.63 GPA in retail management. She was taken in the first round of the WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever and earned WNBA All-Rookie honors in her first professional season.
The NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award recognizes former student-athletes for their successes on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Recipients completed their athletics eligibility during the 2015-16 academic year and will be recognized at the Honors Celebration during the Convention. The NCAA Honors Committee, which selects the honorees, is comprised of representatives from the member schools and conferences, as well as nationally distinguished former college athletes,
“I’m honored to receive this award and couldn’t accomplish what I have in college and beyond without great people around me – my coaches, team and family,” Mitchell said. “Attending South Carolina was a huge step in my life and put me in a position to be successful not only on the court but off it as well. I will be forever thankful for the opportunity to represent such a great university and basketball program.”
Mitchell is the most decorated women’s basketball player in University of South Carolina history and finished her career as just the third player in program history to record at least 1,500 points, 300 assists and 200 steals. She was a two-time SEC Player of the Year — the first Gamecock to earn the honor — and a finalist for all three national player of the year awards in 2015 when she led the Gamecocks to their first ever NCAA Final Four. Mitchell was just the fourth Gamecock to earn All-America status in three different seasons and the first to do it since 1989. In April 2016, she earned the University President’s Award, which is the highest annual award bestowed on a student-athlete to honor achievement in athletics, academics and community outreach over the breadth of his/her career. Mitchell was a Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American and was a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll all four seasons of her career.
Taken ninth in the WNBA Draft, Mitchell averaged 8.6 points and 1.4 assists for the Indiana Fever en route to WNBA All-Rookie honors. Following her WNBA season, Mitchell joined Nadezhdan Orenburg of the Russia-PBL.
2017 NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award
Logan Andryk, Milwaukee School of Engineering
Elizabeth Aronoff, Emory University
Kendall Coyne, Northeastern University
Taylor Ellis-Watson, University of Arkansas
Nicole Hensley, Lindenwood University
Christopher “C.J.” Krimbill, Case Western Reserve University
Haylie McCleney, University of Alabama
Tiffany Mitchell, University of South Carolina
Dak Prescott, Mississippi State University
Jason Vander Laan, Ferris State University
