INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Alabama A&M Athletics continues to produce individuals ready to make a positive change in the world as they have announced a pair of highly accomplished individuals that have been nominated for the prestigious 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award in seniors Daphne Price (Memphis, Tenn.) and Nigeria Jones (Lincoln, Neb.).
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year program honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions. This year that group totals 535 individuals.
 
In order to be eligible, nominees must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have completed eligibility in her primary sport. The latter is in typical years but has been amended this year to reflect the effects of COVID-19 and requires that the individual has obtained their degree while being of senior or graduate standing.
 
DAPHNE PRICE
A four-year member of the A&M bowling program, Price made the absolute most of her time on "The Hill" as she learned to balance her schoolwork, practices, tournaments, a part-time job, involvement with multiple on-campus organizations and volunteering in the community early in her career.
 
That attention to detail extended to learning from the upperclassmen during her first two years and then taking what she learned and used it to help those that came after her during her final two years when she served as team captain.
 
Academically she excelled, graduating Summa Cum Laude in Business Management & Administration with a minor in Computer Science this past spring. That followed a career that saw her earn the prestigious Outstanding Scholar Award for the Business Department and the Presidential Medallion Award as well as Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Commissioners Honor Roll and A&M Athletic Directors Honor Roll recognition all four years as well as three straight National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Scholar-Athlete awards.
 
When not helping the Bulldogs to a 3-2 upset of No. 1 ranked McKendree in 2019-20, Price was fitting any volunteering opportunity into her schedule. Those included the Manna House, food drives, career fairs and the NASA Space App Challenge.
 
"Congratulations to Daphne on this tremendous recognition," said head coach James Moore. "Throughout her four years as a Bulldog she has exemplified what it means to be a student-athlete, leading us to back-to-back SWAC Tournament appearances, organizing numerous team charitable events and excelling in the classroom while graduating with a 3.86 GPA. She is a remarkable young woman and it has been an honor being her coach."
 
NIGERIA JONES
A driving force in the turnaround of Alabama A&M women's basketball since she set foot on campus in the Fall of 2017, Jones has averaged 9.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals in 106 games. In that time she has surpassed the 1,000-point plateau (1,019) and will look to add to that total this season following a year in which she led the SWAC in assists per game at 4.7.
 
The numbers are impressive but they pale in comparison to what it took for Jones to have the opportunity to produce them.
 
A first-generation college graduate, having earned a degree in Political Science with a minor in History this spring, she is the middle of 10 children and has served as an example to them as well as her teammates as to how to persevere and achieve something no one else in her family had – all while performing at an extremely high level as an NCAA Division I student-athlete.
 
In 2019-20, Jones and her teammates saw their season cut short just as they were preparing for a SWAC semifinal game and would continue to deal with the effects of COVID-19 during a shortened 2020-21 campaign that saw them play with seven players for most of the season. It would be a year that would see them go 10-7 overall, 8-5 in league play and return to the conference tournament.
 
All the while she worked to keep both herself and her teammates accountable during the type of season that no one had ever experienced – and succeeded both individually and as part of a team while doing it.
 
A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Jones was far from just a "player" as she made sure to give back to her adopted community of Huntsville, Alabama.
 
While succeeding through all the challenges and opportunities presented to her, she was working with young people as part of an elementary school reading program, the Boys and Girls Club and Halloween Trunk or Treat with the NAACP and looked beyond herself to work with Reading Across America, the Campus Clean Up organization and served as a volunteer for the George Floyd March.
 
Her perseverance, personally and in the team setting, have taken her – in her words – from a young girl in 2017 who just wanted to play basketball to a woman in 2021 who is a true leader. They've also shown her family, her community and anyone who has seen what she has accomplished in her life and collegiate career that anything is possible.
 
"I am extremely proud of Nigeria," said head coach Margaret Richards. "She has exemplified what it takes to succeed as a student-athlete on and off the court. Her work ethic is unmatched and her growth as a young lady has blossomed every year."
 
ABOUT THE NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR PROGRAM
In order to be in the running for NCAA Woman of the Year honors, eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their member school. Each conference office then reviews the nominations from its member schools and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA.
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee then selects the Top 30 with 10 from each division and then three finalists from each division. The Committee on Women's Athletics then selects the winner from the top nine, this year on October 17 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
 
This is the 31^st year of the NCAA Woman of the Year award, one rooted in Title IX and celebrating the accomplishments of the more than 220,000 women competing across all three divisions.

The 2020-21 edition features 535 total nominees with 251 coming from Division I, 107 from Division II and 177 from Division III. Of those, nine are from the SWAC with Jones and Price being the only ones representing women's basketball and bowling, respectively. Beyond that, Price is one of just four bowlers overall and two from the Division I ranks.

SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE NOMINEES (9)
Daphne Price, Alabama A&M (Bowling)
Nigeria Jones, Alabama A&M (Basketball)
McKenna Lupori, Alabama State (Soccer)
Teona Bowles, Alcorn State (Softball)
DeKari Courtney, Alcorn State (Cross Country/Track & Field)
Kayla Owens, Jackson State (Softball)
Hannah White, Jackson State (Track & Field)
Tiara Derosa, Mississippi Valley State (Track & Field)
Alyssa Chuidian, Texas Southern (Volleyball)