GREENWOOD, Ind. – Continuing a resurgence of Alabama A&M Athletics on the national academic stage, the program has made history as both junior guard Garrett Hicks (Madison, Ala.) and senior forward Dariauna Lewis (Omaha, Neb.) have each been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Men's and Women's Basketball Teams as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday, February 17.
 
The two selections mark the first time in the 70 years of the award that two Bulldogs have earned the honor at the same time and increases the all-time total to 10 such selections. Of those, seven have come since the Spring of 2021 with four such honors in the 2021-22 season.
 
Hicks earns not only his first selection but becomes the first men's basketball player in the history of Alabama A&M to achieve that lofty accomplishment while Lewis is just the second individual to repeat, joining football's Tracy Kendall (1989-90, 1990-91).
 
A sharpshooting guard, Hicks is averaging 14.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.0 assists while shooting .350 (50-of-143) from beyond the arc in 21 games and starts. On the year he has scored in double-figures 16 times, four of them surpassing the 20-point plateau and being led by a 25-point with four steals at Southern (2/5).
 
Additionally, he has knocked down at least three triples seven times with a season-high of six (6-of-12) vs. Florida A&M (1/29). While his exploits on the court took care of the "athlete" component, it was his work in the classroom that secured the "student" part. There he has delivered a 3.50 Grade Point Average while majoring in Marketing and earning berths on the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Commissioners Honor Roll and the A&M Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
 
As for Lewis, she continues to lead the Bulldogs back to national prominence academically after becoming the first individual in 29 years, and first at the Division I level, to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District last spring. She would then go on to become the first Academic All-America for the entire program in that same time.
 
This year she was one of only two returning Academic All-America honorees from a year ago that hail from District 4, which represents all Division I programs in Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. She has excelled with a 3.84 GPA in Biology and earned Academic All-America Third-Team honors last year along with three spots on the AD Honor Roll and SWAC Commissioners Honor Roll.
 
On the court she has once again been a dominant force, averaging a double-double of 14.4 points and 11.3 rebounds to go with 2.1 blocks, nearly an assist per game and an impressive .500 (127-of-254) field goal percentage in 23 games with 22 starts. Additionally, she has recorded double-digit scoring games 17 times to go with 13 double-doubles.
 
The latter ranks No. 18 in the country and Lewis is also No. 10 in defensive rebounds per game (8.1), No. 15 in rebounds per game, No. 16 in total rebounds (259) and No. 29 in blocked shots (48).
 
The 2021-22 campaign already marks the first time in program history with multiple honorees in back-to-back years and also now surpasses the most in any one year. The 2020-21 season saw three selections, a mark now eclipsed by the four so far this year. Hicks and Lewis join women's soccer's Arielle Fortune (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and football's Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim (Miramar, Fla.) in accomplishing the feat this season.
 
In addition to those achievements, both Lewis and Hicks were the only members of an Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to be selected in their respective sports at the DI level. That is a number that totaled 93 individuals between the two teams, 48 for the women and 45 for the men.
 
These will be the same individuals that they will compete against for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, something they are now eligible for as a result of their All-District honors. Members of those teams will be announced on Tuesday, March 15.
 
ABOUT THE COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA PROGRAM
The 2021-22 CoSIDA Academic All-District Basketball Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, have been released to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
 
To be eligible for Academic All-District and All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
 
2021-22 CoSIDA Academic All-District Men's Basketball Team (District 4)
Name, School (Yr., GPA, Major)
Josh Alrdich, USC Upstate (Sr., 3.75, Management)
Caleb Catto, Florida Gulf Coast (Sr., 3.75, Integrated Studies)
Carter Hendricksen, North Florida (Sr., 3.78, Sport Management)
Garrett Hicks, Alabama A&M (Jr., 3.50, Marketing)
Owen McCormack, Presbyterian College (Jr., 3.85, Business Administration & Economics)
Harrison Prieto, Florida State (Gr., 3.61/3.58, Meteorology (UG)/Meteorology (G)
Andrei Savrasov, Georgia Southern (Jr., 3.63, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Prince Toyambi, Georgia Southern (Sr., 3.89, Psychology)
 
2021-22 CoSIDA Academic All-District Women's Basketball Team (District 4)
Name, School (Yr., GPA, Major)
Jazz Bond, North Florida (Gr., 3.57/3.57, Public Health)
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (Jr., 3.74, Mass Communications)
Amani Johnson, Kennesaw State (Sr., 3.83 Accounting)
Lotta-Maj Lahtinen, Georgia Tech (Sr., 3.64, Business Administration)
Dariauna Lewis, Alabama A&M (Sr., 3.84, Biology)
Alexis Tomlin, Wofford (Sr., 4.0 Mathematics/Biology)
 
Alabama A&M History of Academic All-District Selections (10 Selections/8 Individuals)
2021-22 – Garrett Hicks (Men's Basketball)
2021-22 – Dariauna Lewis (Women's Basketball)
2021-22 – Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim (Football - WR)
2021-22 – Arielle Fortune (Women's Soccer)
2020-21 – Fermin Ruiz Crespo (At-Large – Men's Tennis)&
2020-21 – Marcus Cushine (Football - DL)$
2020-21 – Dariauna Lewis (Women's Basketball)&
1990-91 – Tracy Kendall (Football - QB)%
1989-90 – Tracy Kendall (Football – QB)%
1979-80 – Tim McCannelly (Football - C)*
%First-Team Academic All-America (only individual to accomplish in program history)
$Second-Team Academic All-America
&Third-Team Academic All-America
*First Academic All-America in Program History