IRVING, Texas – Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod announced that Aaron Bacote of the Old Dominion University men’s basketball team was selected as one of 14 student-athletes to receive the C-USA Winter Spirit of Service Award. The C-USA Spirit of Service Award recognizes the community service efforts of the league’s student-athletes, based upon significant public service, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport.
Old Dominion senior Aaron Bacote helped pace the Monarch basketball team to the final of the 2016 C-USA Championship and earn a postseason title at the inaugural Vegas 16, earning all-tournament team honors in both events. Bacote finished his career with 1,609 career points to rank 13th on ODU’s all-time scoring list. A native of Hampton, Virginia, Bacote has earned Dean’s List honors multiple times as a finance major. He is set to graduate in May and has interned with the ODU Athletic Business Office.
Bacote has actively participated in the Walk A Mile event, which is the international men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence. He has also volunteered with the Breast Cancer Walk, as well as Read Across Norfolk.
Bacote averaged 13.1 points per game this season, which was the second most on the Monarch squad. He also averaged 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest. Bacote tallied 499 points, 109 rebounds, 82 assists and 36 steals on the year, while shooting 82% from the free-throw line. He helped lead the Monarchs to consecutive 25-win seasons and ranks in ODU’s all-time top five for career games played at 137. Last season, he became just the 49th Monarch to join the 1,000 career point club.
The Spirit of Service Award is presented three times throughout the season, with today’s honorees representing Conference USA’s winter sports: men's and women's basketball, women's swimming and diving, and men's and women's indoor track and field.
2015-16 WINTER C-USA SPIRIT OF SERVICE HONOREES:
K’Vonte Scott, Charlotte, Men’s Track & Field
Valerie Inghels, FIU, Women’s Swimming & Diving
Katherine Wright, Florida Atlantic, Women’s Basketball
Laticia Watson, Louisiana Tech, Women’s Track & Field
Terrence Thompson, Marshall, Men’s Basketball
Reggie Upshaw Jr., Middle Tennessee, Men’s Basketball
Ashley Payne, North Texas, Women’s Swimming & Diving
Aaron Bacote, Old Dominion, Men’s Basketball
Alyssa Lang, Rice, Women’s Basketball
Lashyra Cotton, Southern Miss, Women’s Basketball
Fatoumata (Fanta) Diabate, UAB, Women’s Track & Field
Carmeasha Turner, UTEP, Women’s Basketball
Niaga Mitchell-Cole, UTSA, Women’s Basketball
Kendall Noble, WKU, Women’s Basketball
MEET THE REST OF THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE AWARD WINNERS
Charlotte men’s indoor track redshirt senior K’Vonte Scott is a mass media communications studies major with a minor in journalism. On the track, the 2016 C-USA Honor Roll selection finished as the runner-up in the heptathlon in the 2014 C-USA Indoor Championship with a personal-best 5,213 points, a mark that is second best in program history. A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Scott is member of SAAC, Veteran Leaders and the Student-Athlete Ambassador Program.
FIU senior swimmer Valerie Inghels was a standout performer for the Panthers both in and out of the pool during her final season in Miami. In the classroom, Inghels excelled with a 3.89 GPA in communication arts studies, earning Dean’s List honors every semester on campus and acceptance to the graduate program at the renowned IE University in Madrid, Spain, where she will start in the fall. During her two years on campus, the Saleilles, France, native spent time volunteering with her teammates at the Miami Man Triathlon, Miami Marathon and Relay for Life. Additionally, the 2016 C-USA All-Academic honoree served as a mentor for incoming student-athletes as a part of the FIU LEAP program. In the pool, Inghels helped lead the Panthers to their second consecutive C-USA Championship, racking up three gold medals and setting the school record in the 100 butterfly event.
Florida Atlantic women’s basketball player Katherine Wright has put in more than 40 volunteer hours this season and a quarter of those were around events at A.D. Henderson Elementary. Wright has also spent time participating in the AVDA Race for Hope and Friends of Jaclyn, helping at the Coconut Creek Parks & Rec Kids Camp and Kids Fitness Festival, and working with the Palm Beach School of Autism and Friends of Palm Beach. During the 2015-16 season, the junior also tied the C-USA record for threes in a single game with 11 made at Charlotte on Jan. 30, while her season total of 87 treys rank second all-time in school history. Wright also led the Owls to team school records in three-pointers made (294) and attempted (893). The Woodland Hills, California, native is a four-time selection to the FAU All-Academic Team as a management major.
Louisiana Tech senior Laticia Watson serves as the social media and public relations chair for SAAC. She also organized the track student-athletes’ volunteer efforts at the Ruston Peach Festival, Wiggin’ Out – Cancer Benefits and Awareness (Gala) Community Organization, the Alpine Retirement Home and as mentors at Ruston High School. A native of Gonzales, Louisiana, Watson is a marketing major. She holds the school record for pentathlon points, scored during the 2015 C-USA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Marshall sophomore Terrence Thompson was a newcomer this season on the Herd men’s basketball team, appearing in 32 of 33 games. Since arriving on campus, he has volunteered with the INTO Mentoring Program and City Mission, has visited patients at Cabell Huntington Children’s Hospital and the VA Medical Association, and has spoken to students about goal-setting at Huntington Middle School and Chamberlain Elementary. Originally from Durham, North Carolina, Thompson balances a full pre-med course load along with playing basketball. He maintains a 3.4 GPA and plans to attend medical school after graduation to become a doctor.
Middle Tennessee junior men’s basketball student-athlete Reggie Upshaw Jr. was nominated to the 2016 Allstate Good Works Team and now earns a C-USA Spirit of Service award. The Chattanooga, Tennessee, native was named MVP of the 2016 C-USA Championship and was an All-Conference USA third-team selection for the Blue Raiders. He was also the high scorer with 21 points in MT’s first-round victory over No. 2 seed Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament. Upshaw is an exercise science major and member of the MTSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He has volunteered with a number of events, including the C-USA Let’s SAAC Hunger food drive, Special Olympics, Omega Basketball Camp, Camp Abilities for Special Need and Read Across America.
North Texas swimmer Ashley Payne’s leadership extended far beyond the pool deck as the senior spent many hours of her time away from the sport in volunteer efforts. During her career, Payne participated in more than 20 volunteer events and projects, including working in the Denton ISD Breakfast Program, teaching Sunday School at The Village Church and serving as a coordinator for Rookie Roundup, the Let’s SAAC Hunger Can Food Drive and all volunteer efforts for the Mean Green swimming and diving team. On campus, the El Paso, Texas, native held membership in both the Sports Marketing Association and Baptist Student Ministry while also serving as secretary of North Texas SAAC in 2014-2015 and vice president in 2015-2016. Payne, a three-time Conference USA Honor Roll member, compiled a 3.74 GPA while studying marketing.
Senior Alyssa Lang led the Rice women’s basketball team this season in field goal percentage (.500) and ranked second for both total rebounds (165) and rebounds per game (5.5). The Rockwall, Texas, native was a nominee for the 2015-16 WBCA Good Works Team. She has volunteered with non-profit organizations like CAN Do Houston, Nehemiah Center and Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. Lang has also made two mission trips to Haiti with Open Hands for the Fatherless (OH4). She shadowed hours helping with patients at the Iron Man physical therapy clinic and TIRR Memorial Herman inpatient facility. A kinesiology major with a minor in sociology, Lang is a four-time selection to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and holds a 3.43 GPA.
Lashyra Cotton, a Southern Miss junior on the women’s basketball team, maintains a 3.48 GPA in kinesiology, while also serving her community. The Cleveland, Mississippi, native volunteers for the Special Olympics, Children’s Center, local elementary schools and the Provision Living Center nursing home. On the court, Cotton averaged four points and three rebounds for the Lady Eagles in 30 games, including nine starts. She recorded 18.6 minutes per game and totaled 26 assists, 20 steals and 14 blocked shots during the 2015-16 campaign. Academically, Cotton is a two-time member of the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and the Dean’s List and is a three-time selection to the AD Honor Roll.
UAB track athlete Fatoumata Diabate has proven herself in and out of the classroom, maintaining a stellar 3.89 GPA in communication studies, while serving her Birmingham community. The Auburn, Alabama, product volunteered at the Gwin Elementary National School Lunch Week and as a Ronald McDonald House greeter. The junior also was a speaker for the Birmingham College Bound Student-Athlete, a participant in the MLK Day of Service at Red Mountain State Park, a volunteer for Feed My Starving Children Meal Packing and Hands on Birmingham Project Homeless Connect. Academically, Diabate has been named to the UAB Presidential Honor four times, the UAB Dean’s Honor Roll once and the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. On the track, Diabate was a second-team all-conference honoree as the second leg of the UAB distance medley squad at the 2016 C-USA Indoor Track Championship.
UTEP senior Cameasha Turner guided the Miner women’s basketball team to one of its greatest campaigns in program history. She wrapped up her career with a C-USA regular-season crown and a deep WNIT run to go along with a school-record 29 victories, but there is much more to Turner than her on-court ability. The criminal justice major earned a perfect 4.0 GPA and became the first UTEP women’s basketball player to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American (second team). She also was chosen as an Academic All-District honoree and member of the C-USA Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team for a second consecutive season. The Dallas product volunteered with the Special Olympics, Children’s Hospital, Let’s SAAC Hunger and the UTEP Mini Basketball Clinic during the academic year. A frequent visitor of Special Olympics, Turner would help set up activities and games for the children to engage in and raise their spirits. On the hardwood, Turner finished her senior season as an All-C-USA first-team and C-USA All-Defensive Team selection, averaging 13.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and leading the team in field goal percentage (49.5) in 30.5 minutes per contest.
A senior and San Antonio native, Niaga Mitchell-Cole excels on the court and in the community for the UTSA women’s basketball program and is a repeat Spirit of Service recipient. The local product is an event and tourism management/HR management double major, while delivering locally as a part of various community service projects around the Alamo City. Mitchell-Cole participated in One Shirt, One Body, the San Antonio Food Bank, the Children’s Hospital, WINGS (Women Inspiring and Nurturing Greatness in Student-Athletes) and Dreamrunners, and will assist in the For the Kids Dance Marathon and Police Partnership for Sexual Harassment in April. On the court, Mitchell-Cole appeared in 23 contests, averaging 5.8 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game.
WKU redshirt junior Kendall Noble captured a pair of C-USA superlative awards, netting C-USA Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors. The Hazard, Kentucky, product is only the fourth in league history to achieve the feat, but the trophy-laced Lady Topper has proven her worth far beyond the confines of a 94-foot wooden floor. Noble has succeeded in the classroom after being named a CoSIDA Academic All-American (third team) and posting a 3.61 GPA in biology. Noble has been heavily involved with the women’s basketball community outreach efforts as the squad has logged 37 hours of service since the beginning of the academic year. Noble has worked with the Kelly Autism Program, the Boys and Girls Club, and WKU’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Nationally, Noble was the only player in Division I to record two triple-doubles this season - the first two in the program’s storied history.