Minium: ODU Student-Athletes Had A Record Year of Academic Success
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – While the popular notion nationally may be that academics have taken a back seat in college athletics, Old Dominion’s 423 student-athletes had the best academic performance in school history in 2024-25.
ODU’s athletes combined for a composite 3.34 grade-point average, Amy Lynch, ODU’s associate athletic director for student success, said in a recent presentation to ODU’s Board of Visitors.
The 3.34 GPA indicates ODU athletes earn a grade of “B” or higher in most classes, with an “A” worth four points, “B” three points, etc. That is up singificantly from last year’s 3.27 performance, which was also the best in school history.
All told, 53 percent of Monarch athletes made the Dean’s List, which is far better than the average for ODU students. You must earn a 3.4 grade-point average to be named to the Dean’s List.
Nationally, largely because of the transfer portal and revenue sharing, there has been concern that academics are no longer a major emphasis in college athletics.
ODU has, like every Division I school, seen a large increase in the number of athletes transferring, and when athletes transfer, they often lose credit for courses taken at their previous schools.
But ODU athletes continue to excel in the classroom in part because Dr. Wood Selig, ODU’s director of athletics, began investing in academic and overall student welfare more than a decade ago.
ODU’s athletes had a 2.9 composite GPA eight years ago when Selig began adding staff and programs to help student-athletes succeed. The GPA and graduation rates have risen steadily ever since.
The investment was made not only to improve grades, but also the overall mental health of athletes and their lives after graduation. ODU opened a mental health counseling center. In all, 15 full and part-time ODU employees are engaged in student-athlete welfare.
Former athletes have been brought to campus to speak to athletes about life after college.
“We not only want our student-athletes to graduate, but to succeed in life,” said Dr. Ron Moses, ODU’s executive senior associate athletic director for internal operations and student-athlete welfare.
ODU’s most successful team – women’s tennis – also had the most successful year in the classroom with a 3.8 GPA, with field hockey, women’s swimming and women’s basketball close behind. The ODU women’s tennis team won its fifth consecutive conference title this spring.
Sofia Johnson, a senior from London, England who was best player in the Sun Belt, was recently named an Academic All-American.
"This doesn't happen by accident," said ODU President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., during the presentation. He credited the leadership of ODU Women's Tennis Head Coach Dom Manilla.
ODU’s field hockey team had a record 15 players recognized for their academic excellence by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.
Golf was the top men’s team, followed closely by swimming and tennis.
ODU football had its best year ever at 3.15, a phenomenal performance in a sport in which many schools struggle. Football teams generally carry more than 100 players.
Lynch noted some of the best individual performances academically.
* Women’s swimmer Kiersten Donnelly was the top Sun Belt Conference scholarship athlete and earned a $10,000 Sun Belt postgraduate scholarship. She graduated with a degree in biomedical science and enters medical school this fall at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
* Men’s swimmer Gustaf Hansson was the first ODU athlete ever to win the University’s Outstanding Scholar award for the highest GPA at the University. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering and enters the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in his native Sweden this fall.
* Rower Sydnee Blackburn was named the Big 12 Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the year. A nursing major, she has been hired as a pediatric neonatal ICU nurse at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters.
* Zachary Redding was named the Atlantic Sun Men’s Swimming Scholar Athlete of the Year. A rising junior, he was recently admitted into ODU’s nursing program.
“We had a stellar year,” Lynch said. “And it was because we have such a great group of student-athletes. They are really good people.”
ODU athletes showed they are indeed good people with big hearts to go along with their brains.
ODU ranked fourth nationally in hours devoted to community service. Helper Helper and the NCAA released their annual rankings which showed ODU athletes donated 11,046 hours of community service.
That’s nearly 27 hours per athlete whose schedules are already crowded because of academic and athletic demands.
ODU’s men’s swimming team was the top male team in the country for hours volunteered.
Lynch said all 423 athletes participated in community service, a first for ODU, with a large number opting to work with the homeless or mentor elementary school students.
“We had a total of 126 opportunities in community engagement,” she said. “We take the lead from what they are passionate about and two of their biggest passions projects were centered around food insecurity and elementary education.
“For the past five years, every Monday during the academic year, our student-athletes have run meals from Portsmouth to the downtown Norfolk homeless shelter.
"They wanted to expand that outreach this year, so some began to volunteer at Union Mission, serving meals, playing bingo with the residents and raising money for the Monarchs Give Back campaign” to fill ODU’s own food pantry.
“They visited more than 40 elementary schools,” she added. “Hundreds of our student athletes are pen pals to local children in the area and they also serve as coaches.
“The achievements and skills our student-athletes have gained will provide the foundation for their transition to young professionals.”
Said Dr. Selig: “We’re the first one out there in the community asking for support, whether it’s buying tickets, making donations and supporting our teams, so we’d better be prepared to give back to the community as much as we ask from them.
“Our student-athletes and coaches are doing that every day.”
Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram