UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State women's basketball graduate student Kelly Jekot has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team, CoSIDA announced Thursday afternoon. The award recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.
Jekot will now be eligible for Academic All-America consideration. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in late May.
A true student-athlete, Jekot will graduate this weekend with a master's degree in Educational Leadership. Jekot owns an impressive 3.95 GPA in her graduate program. The Enola, Pa. native earned her bachelor's degree in communications from Villanova before coming to Penn State in January 2020 as a grad transfer.
Jekot earned Academic All-Big Ten honors and the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2021 after putting together an All-Big Ten caliber season that was cut short due to a season-ending injury. She was the team's leading scorer with 15.9 points per game at the time of her injury, led the team in minutes played and ranked second in rebounding with 6.8 boards per contest.
Jekot was relied upon as a key veteran leader for a youthful Penn State squad that ranked as the youngest team in the Big Ten and ninth youngest in the country this season. She chose to continue being a key leader on the team following her injury, sticking around to provide support and leadership to her teammates in games and practices.
Jekot scored her 1,000th career point in her first game in a Penn State uniform on Nov. 25, 2020 against Coppin State. The guard owns career numbers of 1,133 points, 449 rebounds and 211 assists, as well as a career field goal percentage of 40.9 and career free throw percentage of 76.0.
Jekot has announced her intention to return to Penn State next season to utilize the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A full list of CoSIDA Academic All-District nominees can be found here.
