WS Chronicle

RALEIGH – Student-athletes Celine Jones, Samuel Cudjoe and James Thomas Moore of Saint Augustine’s University (SAU) were named 2020 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars recently by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education Magazine.

Diverse started the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars Program, named for the late tennis legend, in 1992 to honor outstanding undergraduate student-athletes across the country who excel in academics and athletics in addition to campus and community service. In addition to meeting the criteria, a student must be at least a sophomore academically and maintain at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average to be eligible for the honor.

Cudjoe and Moore were both first-team selections in men’s golf and Jones was a second-team selection in softball. They were among nearly 750 student-athletes in all divisions recognized as Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars. Both Jones and Moore graduated from SAU in May.

An exercise science major, Jones posted a cumulative 3.71 GPA, which helped the Lady Falcons win the CIAA Team Highest Grade Point Average Award in softball this season. In September 2019, she and two other SAU Bahamian students organized a supply drive on campus to help their country recover from Hurricane Dorian. 

A starting outfielder for the Lady Falcons, Jones also helped pack and give away groceries and food and set up amusement rides for kids at the Christmas Wonder Drive Holiday Festival in her hometown of Grand Bahama in 2019. Grand Bahama was one of two islands in the Bahamas that was seriously affected by Hurricane Dorian.

This is the second straight Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar honor for Moore and Cudjoe, who both played major roles in helping the golf team become CIAA contenders again. Moore, who posted a 3.85 cumulative GPA, graduated in May with a business administration degree and he minored in sports management.

A rising senior, Cudjoe majors in sport management and has a 3.72 cumulative GPA. He is a two-time All-CIAA golfer and was the conference’s Men’s Golfer of the Year and Men’s Rookie Golfer of the Year as a freshman in 2018. He recently was named to the 2020 NCAA Division II Academic District 2 Men’s At-Large Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and is an Academic All-America Men’s At-Large nominee.

Both golfers have participated in community projects as SAU students. Two years ago, the SAU men’s golf team taught golf lessons to kids at the Raleigh Boys Club. Cudjoe has tutored SAU students on campus and he helps set up the sound system at home football games.

Moore was an intern at PGA of America in the PGA WORKS Summer Internship Program the previous two summers. During his internship last year, Moore was a volunteer golf coach and mentor for kids, including those with special needs. 

The D2 Athletics Directors Association recognized all three student-athletes as academic achievers in recent years.

Diverse: Issues In Higher Education Magazine bills itself as the only source of critical news, information and insightful commentary on the full range of issues concerning diversity in American higher education. 

In addition to the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars, an article about SAU being the first HBCU to start a cycling team is in the current issue.