Francis Marion University graduate student women's basketball player Kennedi Simmons has been named to the College Sports Communicators 2024-25 Academic All-District Team that were released this week.

A native of Greensboro, N.C., Simmons previously earned her undergraduate degree at Winston-Salem State University with a 3.96 grade point average.  She is a part of the Masters of Business Administration program at FMU and has a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Selected by college sports communicators, the All-District Team recognizes the area's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions: NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot, with the Academic All-America® honorees to be announced in mid-April.

Simmons was an integral part of the Patriot squad this past season, a team that posted a 23-7 mark, shared the East Division championship, advanced to the Conference Carolinas Tournament title game, and earned an invitation to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

For her work in the classroom, she was placed on the FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic Honor Roll last fall.

On the court, she played in all 30 games, making 22 starts, and averaged 11.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.  She connected on 46.7 percent of her field goal attempts, including making 42.4 percent of her three-point attempts, and shot 73.0 percent at the foul line.  During the season, she surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career and was named the Conference Carolinas Player of the Week for Dec. 16-22, 2024.

Simmons is a graduate of Southeast Guilford High School.

The Division II CSC Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2024-25 Divisions II Academic All-America® program.


    Kennedi Simmons