« Women’s Basketball 2013-14

Jerica Coley

School
FIU
Position
Guard
Major
Dietetics and Nutrition
PPG
29.5
RPG
6.8
APG
3.9

Classroom

Jerica Coley is the epitome of a student-athlete. As a dietetics and nutrition major, Coley carries a cumulative GPA of 3.37 and is a three-time academic honor roll recipient. As a junior, Coley was named to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team, later ending FIU’s stint with the Sun Belt Conference as the league’s top Female Student-Athlete.

Character

To quote FIU Head Coach Cindy Russo, “There are not enough positive adjectives to describe Jerica Coley. She’s a total player, a total person, a total student.” As a team captain, Coley’s outstanding talent extends well beyond her basketball know-how, as her leadership skills and natural ability to be a positive influence are second to none. Through her humbleness, hard work and dedication, Coley is an inspiration to her teammates, coaches, and classmates, as well as the University and South Florida communities.

Community

During her time at FIU, Jerica Coley has volunteered at numerous community events with her teammates, including the Football Alumni Tailgate Kids Zone area; Miami Children’s Hospital Toy Drive; FIU Nature Preserve campus beautification project; FIU Faculty Staff Spring Picnic; and the Palmer House, where she helped serve lunch to the elderly citizens residing at the residence. Currently, Coley is completing 150 hours at Jackson Memorial Hospital in the food service department.

Competition

Jerica Coley is one of 25 Division I players across the country to be named as a preseason candidate for The 2014 Wade Trophy – “The Heisman of Women’s Basketball.” She earned her second-consecutive Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention nod in 2012-13, leading the nation in scoring last season with an average of 26.3 points per game. The point guard scored a single-season school record 840 points, leading FIU to its third-straight Sun Belt Conference Championship semifinal appearance and the program’s second-straight Postseason WNIT berth. A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., Coley enters her senior season with a 30-game, double-figure scoring streak. In 2012-13, Coley notched 23, 20-plus point games, including 12, 30-plus point outings, scoring a career-high 39 points on two occasions. The 2013-14 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year pick has averaged 21.8 points per game for her career, tied for first all-time at FIU, and is the only player in program history to register 2,000 points, 600 rebounds, 300 assists, and 200 steals in a career. Coley has scored 2,135 career points, a total which ranks second on the FIU all-time scoring charts. The two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and WBCA All-America All-Region nominee was responsible for 42.9 percent of the Panthers’ in 2012-13, and has scored 35.1 percent of FIU’s total points for her career. In May 2013, Coley was named SBC Female Athlete of the Year, becoming just the second FIU student-athlete to earn the league’s top honor.