Football / May 11, 2012

Forty-Four UM Student-Athletes Receive Newly Minted Degrees

May 11, 2012

CORAL GABLES, Fla.–Forty-four University of Miami student-athletes were conferred degrees today at the BankUnited Center.

Thirteen members of the football team, 11 track and field student-athletes (seven men, four women), six basketball players (four men, two women), four swimmers, three volleyball players, two women’s golfers, tennis and soccer players and one women’s rower walked across the stage today to receive their diploma.

A total of 65 Miami student-athletes earned their degrees during the 2011-12 school year, including 21 graduates last December.

In addition to the graduates’ classroom accomplishment, the Canes excelled in their sport, including seven All-ACC honorees, two ACC Players of the Year, four All-Americans, an ACC Champion and a trio of men headed to the National Football League.

Volleyball’s Lane Carico rewrote the Canes records book, leaving Coral Gables as the all-time leader in kills (1,749) and points (1,973.5) and sits second all-time in Miami history for digs (1,715). For her storied career, she was named the 2011 ACC Player of the Year, represented Miami on the All-ACC team and the All-East region team all four of her years at UM. She was also named to the 2011 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Second Team, which is the highest honor earned by a Hurricane in the history of the program. Carico was also named the ACC’s Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a member of the All-ACC Academic team.

On the hardwood, Shenise Johnson will go down as one of the premier players in Miami women’s basketball history. Johnson started every single Hurricane game since she stepped foot on campus – 131 straight, it was the longest active starting streak in the nation and ranks first all-time at Miami in games played. She ranks third all-time in program history with 2,262 points. She became just the second woman in Division I history to amass 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists and 400 rebounds in a career. She was a two-time First-Team All-American, two-time First-Team All-ACC performer and the 2011 ACC Player of the Year.

The Canes continued its elite NFL history in the 2012 Draft with a duo of graduates selected. Travis Benjamin was the fifth pick of the fourth round by the Cleveland Browns. The 100th overall selection of the Draft, Benjamin ended his career as one of only six players in program history with more than 2,000 receiving yards, capping his career with 2,146. The wide receiver hauled in 131 passes, scoring 13 touchdowns and averaging 43.8 yards per game. Tommy Streeter was the 28th selection of the sixth round by the Baltimore Ravens. Streeter averaged 67.6 receiving yards per game and eight touchdown receptions for his career. In addition, tight end Chase Ford signed a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Women’s soccer players Victoria Alonzo and Ashlee Burt helped lead the UM women’s team to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) College Team Academic Award for an ACC-best 3.29 combined grade point average.

On the track, Devon Hill is one of the fastest collegiate men in the country, earning All-America honors three times and is a four-time ACC hurdle champion. Hill was the national runner-up at this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships and has already achieved the Olympic “A” Standard to compete at the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials.

2012 Univeristy of Miami Graduates

Men’s Basketball
Reggie Johnson
DeQuan Jones
Trey McKinney Jones
Ryan Quigtar

Women’s Basketball
Sylvia Bullock
Shenise Johnson

Football
Travis Benjamin
Ramon Buchanan
Cameron Dean
Chase Ford
Sean Goldstein
Jeremy Lewis
Andrew Smith
Tommy Streeter
Andrew Swasey
Vaughn Telemaque
Kendal Thompkins
David Thompson
Jake Wieclaw