MALIBU, Calif. - Five members of Pepperdine's men's and women's basketball teams have earned West Coast Conference All-Academic honors, with four of them being named to the first team, the league office announced today.
On the women's side, senior center Miranda Ayim was chosen to the first team for the third consecutive year, becoming the first Pepperdine women's player to earn the award three times. Sophomore center Alex Jarrell earned honorable mention notice.
For the men, junior forward Gus Clardy made the first team for the second straight year, while sophomore forward Taylor Darby and sophomore center Corbin Moore were picked to the first team in their first year of eligibility.
It's just the second time that the Pepperdine men have placed three players on the All-Academic team, and the last time it happened was 1993 (Tom Asbury was the head coach then as well).
To qualify for WCC All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must earn at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average, be at least a sophomore and be a significant contributor to the team.
Ayim (London, Ontario, Canada/Saunders Secondary), a public relations major, is Pepperdine's leading scorer (15.4), rebounder (6.8) and shot blocker (2.5) for the second straight season. In addition to being an All-WCC first team selection as a sophomore and junior, she is a two-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honoree, a preseason candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award, an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar and Pepperdine's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2008-09.
Jarrell (Shelbyville, Tenn./Shelbyville Central HS), a biology major, is averaging 2.6 points and 2.0 rebounds as Pepperdine's first post player off the bench. She has started five of 25 games.
Clardy (Nacogdoches, Texas/Nacogdoches HS), an economics major, had made eight starts in 19 games when he suffered a foot injury on Jan. 28 and has not played since. He was averaging 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds.
Darby (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills HS), a business administration major, is Pepperdine's leading rebounder at 5.9 per game. He's also averaging 6.0 points in 24.1 minutes as a starting forward. He's appeared in all 28 games and has started 22.
Moore (Cypress, Calif./Los Alamitos HS), an economics major, has also appeared in all 28 games and has made nine starts while averaging 2.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 15.7 minutes.
