More than 100 University of Alabama Student-Athletes Slated for Spring Commencement this Weekend
More than 100 University of Alabama student-athletes are slated to earn degrees during this weekend's commencement activities, including 24 All-Americans, six Southeastern Conference champions, four CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, two NCAA champions and a Heisman Trophy winner.
The Crimson Tide's tally also includes 87 undergraduate degrees, 17 master's degrees and one doctorate.
There are 22 past and present football players receiving degrees this weekend, including six All-Americans – Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, Bradley Bozeman, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Amari Cooper, Siran Stacy and Sherman Williams. Alabama's total also includes five that have played in the NFL – Clinton-Dix, Cooper, Henry, Stacy and Williams, and two who went in last week's NFL Draft – Bozeman and Shaun Dion Hamilton.
NCAA and SEC champion swimmers Kristian Gkolomeev and Luke Kaliszak, along with All-Americans Matthew Adams, Laurent Bams, Lindsay Morrow, Hannah Musser, Mia Nonnenberg, Temarie Tomley and Braxton Young, are receiving degrees this weekend. Kaliszak, an Academic All-American, is also the 2018 SEC Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a finalist for the H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
All-American and Academic All-American gymnasts Lauren Beers, Mackenzie Brannan and Keely McNeer are set for graduation. Beers, a three-time NCAA Elite 90 winner, earned her master's, while Brannan, an SEC and NCAA regional champion, and McNeer, who is headed to medical school in the fall, earned bachelor's degrees. All-American Nickie Guerrero also earned her undergraduate degree this semester.
Other All-Americans slated to walk the stage this weekend include Lakareber Abe (women's golf), Robbie Farnham-Rose (men's track and field/cross country), Daniel Haugh (men's track and field), Danielle McConnell (women's track and field) and Haley Teel (women's track and field).
Among the 18 advanced degrees earned by Tide student-athletes this semester, women's track and field's Devon Romero leads the way after earning her doctorate in counselor education.
Between them, the men's and women's basketball teams have six slated to graduate following the spring semester, including Ashley Williams, who is receiving her master's degree and Avery Johnson Jr., who will play his senior season in 2018-19 as a graduate.
Baseball's Cody Henry and Jake Walters will be busy this weekend, working graduation celebrations in with a three-game home series against Mississippi State. Carrigan Fain will also be busy during her graduation weekend, as she and her softball teammates take on Texas A&M in a three-game home series of their own.
The rowing team is second among Alabama Athletics teams in number of graduates this spring with 17, led by CRCA All-South Region honoree Nicole Lane. The Tide volleyball team boasted seven graduates including starter Natalie Murison, while soccer had four, including Celia Jimenez Delgado, who led the Tide to the 2017 NCAA tournament this fall. Men's golfer Lee Hodges will take part in graduation this weekend before heading to NCAA regionals next week.
After 50 UA student-athletes earned degrees in the fall, the Tide's 2017-18 academic year degree total is now more than 150 with summer commencement still to come.
Graduation ceremonies get underway Friday, May 4 at 4:30 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum. There will be three ceremonies on Saturday, May 5 at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. The Law School will hold its graduation Sunday, May 6 at 2 p.m. Go to www.ua.edu/commencement/ for more information, including links to the live video stream for each commencement ceremony.