ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) -- UCF redshirt junior Kayli Keough (Land O'Lakes, Fla.) was named to the 2012 Conference USA Women's Basketball All-Academic Team, the league announced Thursday afternoon.
Keough has been a member of the UCF Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester since enrolling as a Knight after transferring from Florida State a year ago. In 2010-11, she was recognized by the C-USA on its Commissioner's Honor Roll in addition to earning the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal.
This year, she has been nominated by unanimous vote by UCF's faculty for the university's Founders' Day Award, given annually to students who demonstrate exceptional ability in a particular area of study. Keough holds a 3.961 grade-point average in sociology and is the Knights' third-leading scorer at 10.1 points per game.
The Land O'Lakes, Fla., native is ranked among the league leaders in field goal percentage during conference play, hitting .407, and ranks among the top-15 scorers. She worked her way into the starting lineup in UCF's Thanksgiving Classic and has started every game since. In addition to her outstanding work on the court and in the classroom, Keough has spent time volunteering at numerous charitable events, including the 2011 Walk to End Alzheimer's, the Komen Central Florida Race for the Cure, Give Kids the World, Florida Citrus Sports Camp and Miracle Field.
Keough is the first Knight since Keunta Miles in 2006-07 to receive the distinction. Keough is joined by Houston's Roxana Button, Tulsa's Tiffani Couisnard, UAB's Amber Jones and UTEP's Kelli Willingham on the team, and she holds the highest GPA of the quintet.
The DeVos Sports Business Management program is ranked among the nation's best. It now has a minor program to go along with a Graduate Degree. Our comprehensive curriculum provides a unique, team-based, integrative business approach and a global sports network in a hands-on environment. The DeVos program offers students the opportunity to earn their Masters in Sports Business Management and a Masters in Business Administration. Focusing on ethics, diversity, leadership, and community service, the DeVos Program attracts some of the brightest and most committed students from across the country and across the globe.
We are proud of the work of our past and present students, and look forward to seeing what the newly admitted Class of 2013 will bring. Some of the major accomplishments of DeVos students are:
We have gone from the newest program on the block to being named one of the top five programs in America by the Wall Street Journal, Sports Business Journal and ESPN the Magazine.
The Class of 2008, in conjunction with the National Consortium for Academics and Sport, formed the Hope for Stanley Foundation, which is dedicated to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their homes and lives in New Orleans.
Class of 2008 students visited Rich and Helen DeVos, program benefactors, at their home in South Florida as the students were recognized for their community service involvement and academic achievements.
Our team of students competed in a case competition this year at the prestigious National Sports Forum against three of the other five top teams in the country, and returned with a first place finish. Only one other team had a woman as part of their group. The DeVos team had three out of four women.
The Class of 2007 went on the Inaugural Class Trip to Atlanta. The trip, which was funded by the second year Sport Marketing client-based projects, allowed the students to meet with executives from the Atlanta Hawks, Georgia Tech Athletic Department, Coca-Cola, the LPGA, and Velocity Sports, and visit the Martin Luther King Center.
DeVos students and graduates are business leaders committed to using the power of sport to improve life in a more-inclusive society. The program is the premier "living classroom" in sports business management education.
The University of Central Florida is the No. 4 “up-and-coming” school in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 best colleges rankings.
UCF achieved its highest ranking in the “up-and-coming” list, which recognizes national universities that “recently made the most promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, students, campus or facilities.” UCF tied for fourth with Clemson University in South Carolina on the list of national schools to watch.
UCF also ranked among the top 100 public universities overall, coming in at No. 97.
“Best Colleges 2012 Edition” ranks more than 1,300 colleges and universities nationwide in more than a dozen categories considering factors such as graduation rates, academic reputation and SAT/ACT scores. The report, known as a guide for helping parents and students choose schools, ranks private and public colleges and universities.
“The rankings are proof of the hard work and dedication of UCF’s staff and faculty members, and these rankings also reflect the talent and work ethic of our students,” said UCF President John C. Hitt. “I’m proud of the contributions made by all the members of our UCF community who are building one of America’s great metropolitan research universities.”
The annual rankings reflect UCF’s commitment to quality growth and providing students with access to a high-quality education. The approximate SAT score of 1,249 posted by the fall 2011 freshman class puts UCF in the top 20 percent of colleges and universities nationwide for SAT averages. The fall freshman class also includes a UCF-record 74 National Merit Scholars.
In March, U.S. News & World Report named UCF’s graduate-level counseling program in the College of Educationone of the 12 best in the country. Engineering, Education, Computer Science, Healthcare Management, Social Work, Speech-Language Pathology Nursing and Public Administration all made the top 100.
