Lee’s Haley Schubert and West Georgia’s Brandi Boddy have been announced as the Gulf South Conference nominees for the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award, established in 1991, recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service, and leadership throughout their college careers. This year's record-breaking number of 619 female student-athletes were nominated by NCAA member schools and span 24 different sports represented across all three NCAA divisions, including 128 total nominees from Division II.
“I am so appreciative of all the opportunities that Lee University has given me.
Lee is a place that encouraged community service as well as remaining involved in the local community and I was blessed to be a part of a program that prioritized that,” commented Schubert after learning about the nomination.
“I am honored to be nominated for such a prestigious award and I know I would not have been as successful as I was without my teammates and coaching staff. Being a small part of Lee University has completely shaped my outlook on life as a woman of faith and a member of my community.”
Schubert is only the third player in the history of the GSC and 10th in all of NCAA DII to amass 2,000 career points, 500 career rebounds and 500 career assists. She is a three-time All-American and third in GSC history in points scored (2,284), fourth in steals (315), ninth in assists (521), and sixth in field goals made (832).
Academically, Schubert posted a 3.72 undergraduate GPA with a degree in IT Systems. She is currently pursuing her MBA and has a perfect 4.0 GPA. Schubert was a three-time Academic All-American and GSC All-Academic Team representative. She is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society, and Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society.
In addition to her athletic and academic accomplishments, Schubert also excelled in the Cleveland community. She volunteered at the Trousdale Academy, a postsecondary academy for adults with intellectual disabilities, read to local elementary schools, led an elementary basketball camp, and served Bradley County School System in their IT Department.
“Saying we are happy and proud of Haley’s accomplishments and recognitions seems so redundant at this point, but it is the absolute truth,” said Head Coach Marty Rowe. “She deserves every accolade she receives and this recognition crosses not only basketball but every female student-athlete in the country. We cannot thank Haley enough for how she has represented our school and athletic programs over the past five years! She has been a blessing to coach, and I cannot thank her enough for what she has done for our program.”
Boddy and Schubert will now have the chance to be selected as Top 30 Woman of the Year nominees by the Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from NCAA membership. The committee will choose 10 honorees from each division, announced in October, with further rounds of voting narrowing the field down to three finalists from each division and then the announcement of the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona in January of 2024.