25 Student-Athletes To Receive Degrees

When Troy University holds its fall commencement ceremony on Friday morning, a total of 25 Trojan student-athletes will be among those receiving degrees.

The student-athletes, who are spread among eight different programs, include six members of the Trojans football team. The ceremony will be especially memorable for that group because the key-note speaker at the event will be Trojans head football coach Larry Blakeney.

“I am proud of all these young men and women, who will see all of their hard work and determination culminate on Friday when they receive their degrees,” Director of Athletics Steve Dennis said. “So much focus is placed on what these kids do on the field, but their academic accomplishments and receiving that degree is the most important thing they do.”

In addition to the six members of the Trojans football program, the student-athletes who will receive degrees on Friday include four members of the baseball program, four members of the track & field team, three members of the women's basketball team, three members of the tennis program, two from men's basketball, two from softball and one member of the volleyball team.

For the Troy football program, the graduation of six players coincides with recognition from the American Football Coaches Association, which annually recognizes the programs across the nation with the highest Graduation Success Rates.

This year the AFCA recognized 41 programs from the Bowl Championship Subdivision which achieved a GSR of at least 70 percent. It is the fourth consecutive year that Troy has been recognized and it is the third time in four years that Troy has been the only Sun Belt Conference school so honored.

The University of Notre Dame and the University of Miami (Fla.) tied for the AFCA's Academic Achievement Award. Both institutions achieved a 100 percent graduation rate for freshmen who entered college in 2002.

Below is a list of all 25 student-athletes who are expected to receive degrees on Friday, along with their sport, major field of study and hometowns.

December 2009 Commencement

Name	Sport	Major	Hometown
Norman Austin	Track & Field	Sport and Fitness Management	Alabaster, Ala.
Annabelle Bares	Tennis	Marketing	Pau, France
Travis Boyd	Football	Mathematics	Lacey's Spring, Ala.
Travis Burge	Baseball	Criminal Justice	Port St. Joe, Fla.
Tyrell Curtis	Football	Social Science	Delta, Utah
Andrew Dickinson	Baseball	Sport and Fitness Management	Decatur, Ala.
Danny Franks	Football	Risk Management Insurance	Bartow, Fla.
Sam Glusman	Football	Risk Management Insurance	Mobile, Ala.
Felicia Hammer	Softball	Marketing	North East, Md.
Jeremy Hawkins	Football	Sport and Fitness Management	Americus, Ga.
Lamar Hicks	Track & Field	Sport and Fitness Management	Tampa, Fla.
Heidi Johnson	Softball	Criminal Justice	Debary, Fla.
Bastian Macher	Tennis	Applied Computer Science	Stuttgart, Germany
Jose Martinez	Tennis	Management	Mexico City, Mexico
Brittany McGhee	Track & Field	Psychology	Jonesboro, Ga.
Kylie Morrissey	Women's Basketball	Physical Education	Geelong, Australia
Nate Nolin	Football	Accounting	Graceville, Fla.
Denzel Ramirez	Track & Field	Criminal Justice	Trinidad & Tobago
Danielle Realph	Women's Basketball	K-6 Elementary Education	Avoca Beach, Australia
Larell Roper	Women's Basketball	K-6 Elementary Education	Terrigal, Australia
Josh Storm	Baseball	Criminal Justice	Cottondale, Fla.
Mario Telfair	Men's Basketball	Human Services	St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tim Wheeler	Baseball	Social Science	Killen, Ala.
Jennifer White	Volleyball	Psychology	Robertsdale, Ala.
Josh Williams	Men's Basketball	Sport and Fitness Management	Bascom, Fla.

Troy University Athletics

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