GREENWOOD, Ind. – All four of Belmont University women's basketball's Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team members,
Tuti Jones,
Jailyn Banks,
Hilary Fuller and
Avery Strickland, have been named to the 2025-26 Academic All-District
® NCAA Division I Team as selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC). Announced by the organization midday Tuesday, CSC recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performance on the court and in the classroom.
The CSC Academic All-America
® program separately recognizes women's basketball honorees in four divisions – NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III and the NAIA. Academic All-District
® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America
® ballot.
The 2026 MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Jones has been selected as a CSC Academic All-America
® finalist and will advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First, second and third-team Academic All-America
® honorees will be announced on Wednesday, April 15.
Jones and Banks were both tabbed Academic All-District
® last March as well.
All four Bruins hold a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.50 and were starters this past season.
A three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete Team member, two-time Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team selection, and the 2024 DI-AAA ADA Postgraduate Scholarship award winner, Jones is now also a three-time Academic All-District
® honoree. Named All-MVC Second Team in 2025-26, Jones was chosen for the MVC All-Defensive Team for a third consecutive year. The graduate guard from Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), broke Belmont's all-time steals record on Jan. 15 in a win at Indiana State and finished her illustrious career with a program-record 449 steals.
Jones completed her unbelievable career as the only Bruin in Belmont's NCAA era to record 1,500 points, distribute 500 assists and gather 700 rebounds. She finished with 1,766 points, 729 rebounds and 520 assists. Her 169 games played rank fourth-most all-time in NCAA Division I women's basketball history and her 168 starts are also a school record.
Jones graduated with her bachelor's degree in sport administration in May of 2024 and is in her final semester of graduate school. Set to receive her master's degree in sport administration in May, Jones owns a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The 2023-24 MVC Freshman of the Year and a three-time All-MVC selection, Banks landed a spot on the 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) All-Tournament Team last April after helping lead the Bruins to the championship game. This past season, Banks averaged a team-best 15.4 points per game and scored in double figures in 21 of the 24 games she played in. The junior guard from Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), became Belmont's 37th 1,000-point scorer against Murray State on Jan. 31.
Majoring in sport administration and minoring in business administration, Banks has maintained a 3.5 cumulative GPA.
Emerging as one of the Bruins' top playmakers, Fuller claimed All-MVC Third Team recognition this past season. She put together 20 double-figure scoring games in 2025-26 and registered five 20-point performances in MVC play. A native of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (All Hallows' School), Fuller averaged 14 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest throughout her sophomore campaign. The forward has a 3.55 cumulative GPA as a marketing major.
After graduating from the University of Tennessee with her bachelor's degree in recreation and sport management, Strickland was an outstanding guard for Belmont this past season. Collecting All-MVC Second Team and MVC All-Newcomer Team honors, Strickland shot a team-best 44.2 percent from the floor alongside
Quinn Eubank, scored a team-high 417 points and knocked down a team-leading 54 three-pointers. On Feb. 2, Strickland was named MVC Newcomer of the Week following her outings at Evansville in an overtime road win and versus the Racers at home. The Knoxville, Tennessee (Farragut HS), native holds an unblemished 4.0 GPA while pursuing her Master of Science degree in strategic communication and leadership.
Eligibility criteria for CSC Academic All-District
® and subsequent Academic All-America
® consideration is as follows:
- A student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA as both an undergraduate and graduate student (when applicable).
- A student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically.
- For women's basketball, student-athletes must compete in 90 percent of the team's games played or must start in at least 66 percent of the team's games.
- Transfer student-athletes are immediately eligible if the above academic and athletic criteria is met.
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