USCA's Legg, FMU's Young Earn Academic All-District Honors

AUGUSTA, GA -- USC Aiken guard Meredith Legg and Francis Marion forward Brittany Young have been selected to the ESPN The Magazine / CoSIDA Academic All-District III team. 

Legg, a 5-9 junior from Huntersville, N.C. has maintained a 3.75 grade point average as a Business Administration major during her two and a half years at USC Aiken. Legg is the Lady Pacers’ sixth Academic All-District selection in the past eight years, joining previous standouts Mindy Allee, Sarah Kendrick, and Jami Cornwell on the prestigious list.

Young, a native of Moncks Corner, is majoring in political science, with a minor in business, owns a 3.44 grade point average. She is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha political science honor society and is a past president of FMU’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She has been named to the Peach Belt Conference Presidential and FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic honor rolls each of the past three years. She was also named to the 2007 PBC All-Sportsmanship Team.

To qualify, a student-athlete must be of at least sophomore standing, have been enrolled at their current school for at least one year, have a minimum 3.2 grade point average, and be a starter or significant reserve on their team. District III is comprised of NCAA Division II and III schools in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The five-member First and Second Teams are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) with the First-Team going on the national ballot for Academic All-America voting. The CoSIDA program is the only one that may use the copyrighted term “Academic All-American”.

Legg has started 18 of 20 games for the Lady Pacers, leading the team and ranking seventh in the Peach Belt Conference in scoring at 15.8 ppg. She is shooting 41.8 percent from the field (104-of-249) including 37.9 percent from the three-point line (64-of-169). Ranking sixth in the PBC in three-point accuracy, Legg is ninth in Division II in threes made per game. In leading the league in free throw shooting, the junior guard has connected on 43-of-46 attempts for 93.5 percent.

Legg has led the Lady Pacers in scoring on 10 occasions and has tallied double figures in points a team-best 16 times. In scoring 23-straight points in the first half of USC Aiken’s 75-61 win at Columbus State on January 19, Legg finished with a career-high 28 points, one of her five 20-point games this year, and earned PBC Player of the Week honors.

With 925 career points, Legg sits sixth on the school’s all-time NCAA scoring list, closing in on the 1,000-point club. She is tied for second all-time in career three-pointers with 199, just six shy of Kerry Ansbro’s all-time mark.

In the classroom, Legg has been named to the Dean’s List, the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, and the Peach Belt Conference Honor Roll.

On the court, Young leads the Patriots in scoring at 13.7 points per game. She has played in all 22 games this season and is averaging 4.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. She is connecting on 43.5 percent of her field goal attempts and 78.7 percent of her free throws. The 5-6 guard recently became on the fourth player in FMU history to amass 1,000 career points and 500 career assists. She is currently 23rd on the Patriot career scoring list with 1,098 points and fourth in all-time assists with 510.

The 25th-ranked Patriot women are 18-4 and lead the Peach Belt standings with an 11-4 mark. FMU will play host to Lander University on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

Young is a product of Berkeley High School, where she was a three-time All-State and All-Region performer on the basketball court for coach David Smith.