The Gazebo Gazette
PERKINSTON (GG) — Mississippi Gulf Coast student-athlete Simaru Fields has been named to the 2023-24 College Sports Communicators Academic All-American Women’s At-Large Team for the College Division.
Basketball’s Fields named to the Second Team. Fields, a guard from Pass Christian, graduated with a 3.69 GPA in pre-physical therapy.
“It means a lot,” Fields said. “It means all the hard work and dedication I put in on the court and in school is paying off. To be chosen as one of the 20 recipients, that’s incredible.”
The criteria for voting on the CSC All-American Team includes performance on the court or field, and Fields excelled there, too.
She helped lead coach Hope Adams’ Gulf Coast team to its first MACCC title since 2000 and first NJCAA Tournament appearance since 1977. She averaged 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.8 steals, finishing seventh in the conference in scoring and 10th in steals.
She earned NJCAA All-American Second Team honors and was a two-time All-Region 23 and All-MACCC performer. Fields learned about the award Monday while she was in summer school study hall at Old Dominion University, where she will continue her collegiate career at the NCAA Division I level.
“I have to give it to my coaches at Gulf Coast,” Fields said. “They gave us study hall hours every day, and that helped me a lot. It helped me put the focus on my work while I was there, and then when I left there, I could focus on basketball on other things. The (Learning Resources Center) had a lot of resources for us, and it was a quiet place to work. It had areas where if you wanted to be by yourself, you can work there. There were tutors there who could help you with whatever you needed help in.”
The College Division includes all community colleges, Canadian colleges and American four-year schools not associated with the NCAA or NAIA.
