Two SGTC Lady Jets earn All-America honors

Published 9:59 pm Tuesday, March 24, 2020

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From Staff Reports

 

AMERICUS – South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) Lady Jets sophomores Shamari Tyson and Yasriyyah Wazeerud-Din were recognized as members of the 2019 – 2020 World Exposure NJCAA Division I All-American teams. World Exposure named first, second, third, and honorable mention All-Americans for NJCAA Division I women’s basketball recently.

Tyson was honored with a third-team All-American recognition and Wazeerud-Din was listed as a World Exposure NJCAA honorable mention All-American. Only 35 of the top NJCAA women’s basketball players in the nation earned this distinction.

“I am very proud of both of these young women,” said SGTC Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “They deserve this and more. They did everything that we asked of them on the court and in the classroom. I am disheartened by the way the season ended. These girls had earned the right to compete at the national tournament and through no fault of their own, the trip and season was cancelled. COVID-19 has made placing our sophomores at the next level a little more difficult, but I am confident that each of the sophomores will have the opportunity to continue their careers as student-athletes at the next level. These types of honors will definitely help.”

Tyson was also listed as one of the 15 finalists in the World Exposure National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Sophomore of the Year Award.

The Fort Wayne, IN native transferred to SGTC from SE Illinois College for her sophomore season. She was a third team NJCAA All-American in 2019. This season, she helped lead the Lady Jets to a 30-2 record, the best in school history. Tyson was selected as the overall GCAA Player of the Year, and won the GCAA Player of the week nomination four different times.

Tyson is third in the nation for three-point percentage shooting (47.2), 19th in the nation for three-point shooting (85 of 180), 20th in steals (91), ninth in assists (170), and fifth in turnover ratio (3.0). Tyson averaged 24 minutes per game and averaged 14.4 points per game and she hit 83% of her free throw shots. Tyson also averaged 5.5 rebounds per game and 5.5 assists each outing. She also had 2.9 steals per game.

Wazeerud-Din, a 5’ 11’ sophomore guard from Marietta, GA, has been with SGTC for two seasons. As a sophomore, she helped lead the Lady Jets earn back-to-back undefeated Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association seasons. The Lady Jets were 35 – 0 in the conference from 2018-2020.

This season, Wazeerud-Din was the leading scorer for the Lady Jets averaging 15.1 points per game. She was a 75 percent free throw shooter and made 50 percent of her three point attempts and averaged over 20 minutes per game on the court this season.

In addition to her scoring ability, Wazeerud-Din also accounted for six rebounds a game, along with three assists and three steals each outing. Both Wazeerud-Din and Tyson were listed as GCAA All-Academic team members for the 2019 – 2020 season.