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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Earn Prestigious ITA Academic Honor
7/24/2018 | Men's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss men's tennis earned the prestigious ITA All-Academic Team Award, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Tuesday. Individually, senior Grey Hamilton and freshmen Finn Reynolds and Cotter Wilson earned ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition.
It marks the 12th time overall and seventh time in the last eight years for the Rebels to receive this award. The Rebels have earned the honor in three of head coach Toby Hansson's four years at the helm of the program.
The Rebels are one of 12 teams in the country to finish ranked in the top 25 and earn this recognition. Additionally, with the women also earning the award, Ole Miss is one of eight schools in the nation to have both its tennis teams finish ranked in the top 25 and receive the ITA All-Academic Team Award.
The award requires a minimum 3.20 grade point average to be considered. The Rebels posted a 3.27 GPA for the 2017-18 academic year and also won the Chancellor's Cup for the male team with the highest GPA at Ole Miss.
"Toby and I are extremely proud of the effort the team put forward academically this past year," assistant coach Devin Britton said. "We set team goals at the beginning of each semester and academics is always the first topic discussed. This year the guys really committed to making sure enough time was spent studying on the road. It's not always easy to do after a full day of travel or playing an SEC dual match etc., but the team did a great job of holding each other accountable. It definitely made a big difference."
Individually, Hamilton received ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition for the third time in his career. He also made the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was named the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year at Ole Miss.
"Grey is one of the sharpest student-athletes we have ever had here at Ole Miss," Britton said. "His leadership played a big part in our success in the classroom as well as on the court. He is very deserving of this award."
Reynolds and Wilson both earned their first honor, maintaining well above a 3.50 for the recently completed academic year, and set the tone for future teams to succeed in the classroom as well.
"Cotter and Finn did an excellent job this year," Britton said. "You love to see this from the freshmen. We are fortunate to have these two guys. They have bought in from day one, and it will be exciting to see them continue to grow in the coming years. The future is bright."
The Rebels have had a least one player named an ITA Scholar-Athlete 17 straight years.
"There is a lot of life after tennis, and our guys are setting themselves up for plenty of success on and off the court in the future," Britton said.
The Rebels reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the 17th time and ended the year ranked No. 24 in the nation.
For more information on Ole Miss Men's Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMTennis, on Facebook at OleMissMTennis and on Instagram at OleMissMTennis. Also, follow coach Hansson on Twitter at @TennisToby.
