Kia Nurse

Classroom

Kia Nurse was honored as a third-team Academic All-America selection by CoSIDA in 2017 and is a member of the Athletic Directors’ Honor Roll after earning a 3.449 GPA.

Character

A team leader and consummate teammate, Nurse assumed the leadership mantle during her junior year and provided guidance to the underclassmen. She also shows great interest in helping those in the community both on campus and at home.

Community

Nurse’s community involvement includes Foundation for Life “Bikes for Kids” (January 2015) in which she conducted a basketball clinic for high-achieving students in downtown Hartford, followed by donation of bicycles. She produced a Kindness Video (November ’15) for the students of Greene Hills Elementary School on the importance of being kind to one another, and she wore gold shoeaces for Go 4 the Goal Shoelaces (February 24, 2016) in a game vs. SMU to support awareness and research for childhood cancers. She helped with a toiletry collection (November ’15 through present) in which she led the collection of unused toiletries from hotel stays for the duration of the season to be donated to at-need members of local communities.

Nurse helped with the American Red Cross Blood Drive (February 2016) and greeted donors and encouraged student body to help save lives in “competition” with other universities. For the Toys for Tots Drive (December ’15, ‘16) she collected toys with USMC officers at men’s and women’s basketball games for area children before the winter holidays. For the Mansfield 5K Kids Run (July 2016) she helped to set up and take down all necessary equipment for a youth fun run, greeted families and cheered on youth participants. She was a part of the Mansfield Festival (September 2016) where she played games with local kids, took pictures and engaged in positive interactions with the community. She also participated in Athletes for Hope (September 2016).

Competition

The 2016 Preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Nurse was honored as a 2016-17 American Conference Second Team pick. She became the 42nd member of UConn’s 1,000-point club last season and also established a new record by connecting on 24 three-point field goals during the 2017 NCAA Tournament.