Rachel Tecca

Classroom

An example of a true student-athlete, Tecca graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing management just hours before leading her team to victory at home against Cincinnati on Dec. 15, 2012. She went on to become the first Capital One Academic All-American in program history, and is also a two-time Academic All-District IV selection. Tecca maintained a 3.89 undergraduate GPA and will have earned her MBA by the end of her career at Akron. She has twice been named to the Academic All-MAC team.

Character

Tecca suffered a torn ACL in the 10th game of her junior season in 2011. Despite the injury, she remained heavily involved in the program from the sidelines and continued to serve as team captain. She underwent surgery and rehabilitation in the offseason in order to return to the court in 2012, and proceeded to have the single most productive season by an Akron women’s basketball player in the history of the program, playing with a knee brace as well as a mask to cover a broken nose. Tecca, a three-time team captain, was voted Akron’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2013 by her peers on campus.

Community

Hailing from nearby Tallmadge, Ohio, Tecca has become a staple in the Akron community as a familiar face for Zips women’s basketball. Some of the service projects Tecca has been involved in over the past several years include: serving hot meals at local churches to less fortunate individuals; assisting the Special Olympics organization with its state-wide, annual bowling tournament; elementary school reading and pen pal programs to help strengthen grammar and handwriting skills for young children; and UA Relay for Life.

Competition

As a senior, Tecca has consistently ranked in the nation’s top-10 in points per game while leading the Mid-American Conference in scoring. This season, she became Akron’s all-time leading scorer in addition to breaking the school’s career rebounding record – a mark that stood since 1988 – and earning multiple conference Player of the Week honors. Collecting more than 30 double-doubles in an Akron uniform, Tecca is on pace to become UA’s first player and just the second player in MAC history to surpass 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. Last year as a redshirt junior, Tecca became the first Akron women’s basketball player in school history to earn MAC Player of the Year honors. A two-time All-MAC First Team selection, Tecca led the league in scoring just a year removed from knee surgery, while breaking Akron’s single-season scoring record with 609 points.