Etowah County: East Broad, Valley Street and Wallace Drive campuses in Gadsden, Ala.
Student-Athlete Honors
Gadsden State Community College’s student-athletes were honored with academic and athletic accolades in 2023.
“It’s very rewarding to see our student-athletes excel,” said Blake Lewis, athletic director. “We are very proud of the athletic achievements and academic excellence as they spend many hours in the classroom as well as hours of practicing, training and performing community service.”
ACCC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll
In June, several Gadsden State Community College student-athletes and teams were honored by being named to the Alabama Community College Conference Spring 2023 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll for achieving a 3.0 GPA or higher in at least 12 hours of courses. The ACCC commissioner is Dean Myrick.
Cardinal student-athletes named to the Honor Roll include Ryan Anderson, Michael Dale and Parker Godwin, all from men’s basketball; Payton Blevins, Halle Brown, Cadence Buchanan, Laila Lowery, Emma Martin, Stephanie Morgan, Savannah Seals, Stephanie Seals, Jordan Spivey, Belle Trammell and Tori Winslett, all from women’s basketball; Jordan Clark, Chloe Davidson, Gabby More and Lacey Rich, all from women’s cross country; Paige Collier, Lauren Davis, Alexandria Ellis, Savannah Free, Ziniah Hardy, Morgan Moseley, Sera Beth Potter, Moriah Seay, Keelan Vice, Zoe Walker and Madison Williams, all from volleyball; and Riddic Dugger, Noah Hefner, Joanah Hudson, Andrew Keeton, Andrew Shankles, Evan Stewart and Riley Woerner, all from tennis.
Cardinal teams named to the Spring 2023 Commissioner’s Academic Team Honor Roll include women’s cross country (3.42), women’s basketball (3.17), volleyball (3.37) and tennis (3.35).
In January 2024, the Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll was announced for Fall 2023. The number grew from 36 honored athletes to 70, largely due to the addition of baseball.
Cardinal student-athletes named to the Honor Roll include:
Baseball – Aidan Bee of Clanton; Brendon Byrd of Gulf Shores; Nolan Daversa of Gurley; Brandon Fears of Snellville, Ga.; Nicholas Ford of Canton, Ga.; Mason Freeman of Madison; Blake Hall of Hazel Green; Andrew Hardy of Pell City; Trent House of Phenix City; Andrew Hughes of Suwanee, Ga.; Hunter Humphries of Gadsden; Johnathon Isbell of Moody; Riley Jackson of Cullman; Charles Jones of Oneonta; Weston Kirk of Spring Garden; Tyler Mays of Winfield; Christopher McNeil and Walker Thomas, both of Chelsea; Cody Russell and Mason Steele, both of Loganville, Ga.; Chase Saul of Pelham; Hayden Strickland of Tuscaloosa; Brant Stringer of Hartselle; Robert Templin of Troy; Aaron Wallace of Hueytown; Luke Weems of Sardis and Colton Willmon of Helena.
Men’s Basketball – Kolby Battles of Pleasant Valley; Dontarius Coleman of Gibsland, La.; Demarice Farrow of Valley; Jalynn Lacey of Brighton; Massiah Morris of Huntsville; Christian Willis of Decatur and Mekhi Witter of Atlanta.
Women’s Basketball – McKayla Bean of Rainbow City; Lydia Crane of Fort Payne; Neely Damron of Irondale; Kaitlyn Hill of Susan Moore; Sethanie Morgan of Rome, Ga.; Jaxson Sizemore of Glencoe and Victoria Winslett of Pell City.
Men’s Cross Country – Travis Cooley of Lincoln; DeShaun Foster and Jonah Medders, both of Alexandria; and Conner Strawn of Glencoe.
Women’s Cross Country – Jordan Clark of Arab; Keira Johnson of Hokes Bluff; McKinley Kay of Glencoe; Gabrielle More of Trussville and Lacey Rich of Southside.
Tennis – Samuel Arnold and Kamron Palacios, both of Cedartown, Ga.; Bradley Bentley and Charles McIntire, both of Grant; Alexander Butler of Boaz; John David Cunningham of Rome, Ga.; Juan Mondragon of Gadsden; Elisha Sims and John Weaver, both of Guntersville; Heath Stinson of Pell City and Jason Wood of Gadsden.
Volleyball – Kandyn Blankenship of Alexandria; Kaleigh Butler of Geraldine; Lauren Davis of New Market; Ella Garmany of Centre; Kinslee Gray of Glencoe; Ziniah Hardy of Rainbow City, Macey Johnson of Huntsville; Sera Beth Potter of Ashville and Zoe Walker of Trussville.
Cardinal teams named to the Fall 2023 Commissioner’s Academic Team Honor Roll include baseball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, tennis and volleyball.
NJCAA All-Academic Teams
In July, the National Junior College Athletic Association announced the 2022-23 All-Academic Teams, which recognizes student-athletes across the country for their dedication in the classroom. A total of 10,267 student-athletes across the nation have been honored for achieving a GPA of 3.6 or above. Twenty-three of those student-athletes are Gadsden State Cardinals.
Cardinal players with a 4.0 GPA receiving First Team honors include Cadence Buchanan of Ragland from women’s basketball; Jordan Clark of Arab from women’s cross country; Savannah Free of Danville and Madison Williams of Decatur, both from volleyball; Parker Goodwin of Grove Oak from men’s basketball; and Andrew Keeton of Killen and Evan Stewart of Enterprise, both from tennis.
Student-athletes with a 3.8 to 3.99 GPA named to the Second Team include Payton Blevins of Rainsville and Halle Brown of Valley Head, both from women’s basketball; Lauren Davis of New Market, Ziniah Hardy of Rainbow City, Sera Beth Potter of Ashville and Zoe Walker of Trussville, all from volleyball; Noah Hefner of Southside from tennis; and Lacey Rich of Southside from women’s cross country.
Student-athletes with a 3.6 to 3.79 named to the Third Team include Chloe Davidson of Gadsden from women’s cross country; Savannah Seals of Ider from women’s basketball; Moriah Seay of Prattville from volleyball; and Riley Woerner of Acworth, Ga., from tennis.
Each year, the NJCAA also recognizes teams in each sport for their dedication in the classroom for the NJCAA Academic Teams of the year. To qualify as an academic team, student-athletes must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA. Cardinal teams qualifying include women’s cross country (3.47), tennis (3.43), women’s basketball (3.37) and volleyball (3.4).
Athletic Accomplishments in Volleyball
In April, five members of the Gadsden State volleyball team signed to play at four-year colleges. All players completed their studies at Gadsden State in May.
Jade Bell is continuing play at Trinity College of Florida; Bliss Brown at Mitchell College; Alex Ellis at Tuskegee University; Morgan Moseley at Stillman College; and Moriah Seay at Tuskegee University.
Bell is a defensive specialist from Ashville. She was named to the Dean’s List for having at least a 3.5 GPA and earned a spot on the Alabama Community College Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll for achieving a 3.0 GPA or better.
Brown, a native of Southside, will be traveling to New London, Conn., to continue her volleyball and academic careers. A setter and defensive specialist, she was named ACCC Player of the Week and landed on the All-ACCC Second Team. Brown was named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2021.
Ellis is a right side and middle hitter from Montgomery. She previously played at Robert E. Lee High School.
Moseley of Decatur is heading to Tuscaloosa to play volleyball. The outside hitter has been on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll, the President’s List and Dean’s List for her academic achievements.
Seay is joining teammate Ellis at Tuskegee University. The outside hitter from Prattville led the nation in kills her freshman year and was named to the ACCC All-Tournament Team. She was named to the All-ACCC First Team for two consecutive years. Seay has been listed on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll and the Dean’s List.
On Aug. 30, it was announced that Kandyn Blankenship, a native of Alexandria, was named the Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for the Alabama Community College Conference.
Blakenship, a sophomore, served the Lady Cardinals as a defensive specialist. When named Player of the Week, she played 12 sets with five attack attempts, five assists, two services aces and 47 digs. Blakenship was also named to the ACCC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll.
Ziniah Hardy, who is a defensive specialist with the Cardinals, was named to the Alabama vs. Mississippi Crossover All-Tournament Team. She earned the honor with teammate Lauren Davis after playing in the tournament Sept. 8-9 at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville. Davis is from New Market, where she attended Buckhorn High School. She is a sophomore who plays right side hitter at Gadsden State.
Hardy, who was a standout player at Southside High School before she came to Gadsden State in 2022, earned her second honor for a tournament played on Sept. 22-23 at Wallace State. She and Hailey Hanners were named to the Fall Bash All-Tournament Team. Hanners is a freshman from Glencoe High School. She plays middle blocker.
On Sept. 26, Hardy was named the ACCC Player of the Week. She was recognized for playing 15 sets, where she had 10 kills, 33 attack attempts, two kills and 35 digs. She is the second Gadsden State Cardinal to earn Player of the Week honors.
Male athletes earn honors for impressive performances
In February, Kintavious Dozier hit two major milestones. He moved past the 1,000-point mark during his time at Gadsden State, and he was the top scorer among NJCAA Division I teams.
In March, Dozier was named to the All-Region 22 First Team and the All-North First Team. He shared Co-Player of the Year for ACCC with Marcus Hill of Southern Union.
The Lanett native averaged 28.2 points per game and hit 52.6 percent of his field goals. He signed with Grambling State University for the 2023-24 season and was named Impact Player of the Week for the Southwestern Athletic Conference in January 2024. He averaged 24 points per game against Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M and shot 61.5 percent from the field in the wins.
ACCC announced on Oct. 2 that the Player of the Week in cross country was Gadsden State’s own, Lane Griffin.
Griffin finished 13th out of 42 runners in the Mountainside Stride held Sept. 30 in Chattanooga. His 8K time was 27:56, which was a full minute improvement from the previous race on Sept. 15.
Griffin, who graduated from Fort Payne High School, was consistently Gadsden State’s No. 1 finisher from the men’s cross country team. In September, the men’s team finished third in the Mountainside Stride in Chattanooga. Griffin earned recognition as a Top 15 finisher with a time of 27:56, his personal best. At the ACCC Region 22 Cross Country Championships in October, Griffin finished 15th in the 8K run with a 28:30.84.
Athletic accomplishments in Men’s Basketball
In May, Men’s Basketball Head Coach Deddric Tarver announced that six Cardinals were continuing their athletic careers at four-year colleges. All players concluded their studies at Gadsden State in May 2023.
Kintavious Dozier is continuing play at Grambling State University in Louisiana. He is the most decorated player from the 2023 season and led the nation in points per game with 27.8. He was third in the nation in total points for the season with 751, and he finished third overall in field goal shooting. The Lanett native earned a general studies degree at Gadsden State on May 11, 2023.
Parker Godwin signed with Berry College in Rome, Ga. A past Class 3A Player of the Year from Fyffe High School, Godwin played in the guard position and was named ACCC Player of the Week twice during his time at Gadsden State. He was consistently on the Dean’s and President’s lists for outstanding academic performance and was named to the ACCC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll three times. He received an associate degree in Liberal Arts.
Azaad Ben is returning to his hometown of Huntsville to play for the Oakwood University Ambassadors. The forward was named to the ACCC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll twice, and he earned an associate degree in general studies on May 11.
Ryan Anderson is joining Ben at Oakwood University. The guard served as one of the Gadsden State Cardinals’ team captains for the 2023 season. He was named to the ACCC Commissioners Academic Honor Roll for his success in the classroom. He was awarded an Associate in Science in General Studies at Gadsden State.
D’angelo Foster is playing at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock. He was a member of the Gadsden State basketball team during the 2022 season. During that time, he led the team in blocked shots. In 2023, he took a break from basketball to focus on his academics. He was on the Dean’s List and the ACCC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll. The Piedmont native earned a general studies degree.
Morrez Calloway signed with Stillman College in Tuscaloosa. He played forward on the 2023 Cardinals team.
