GTE Academic All America Men's And Women's Basketball Teams Announced By CoSIDA

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The University of Kansas men's basketball team has enjoyed tremendous success on the court this season,
holding the top spot in the polls most of the year and posting
a 34-1 record heading into Friday's NCAA third round game against
Arizona. Their starting backcourt, point guard Jacque Vaughnand shooting guard Jerod Haase, excelled in the classroom
as well, as they were among the 60 student-athletes named to the
GTE Academic All-America Men's and Women's Basketball
Teams announced today by the College Sports Information Directors
of America (CoSIDA).

Vaughn, a senior from Pasadena, Calif., is a business
administration major with a 3.72 Grade Point Average (GPA). He
is averaging 11 points and six assists per game this season and
is the school's all-time assist leader. A first team GTE Academic
All-America Team member in 1996, Vaughn was named University
Division GTE Academic All-America Men's Basketball Team
Member of the Year, which goes to the player who "best
represents the qualities of an Academic All-America student-athlete."

Haase, a senior from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., has a 3.70 GPA
in business administration. He made the GTE second team last
year and is averaging 13 points per game. Also on the first team
is Notre Dame's Pat Garrity, the Big East Player of the
Year. Garrity is a junior from Monument, Colo. (3.67/biochemistry).
Rounding out the first team are Baylor's Doug Brandt, a
senior from Hastings, Neb. (3.98/aviation sciences); and Colgate's
Adonal Foyle, a junior from Hamilton, N.Y. (3.47/history).

The women's University Division includes Jennifer Howard of
North Carolina State, a senior from Newton, N.C., who is the GTE
Academic All-America Women's Basketball Team Member of
the Year (4.00/communications); Michelle Palmisano of
Vanderbilt, a senior from Ventura, Calif. (3.99/biomedical &
electrical engineering); and Jayme Olson of Iowa State,
a junior from Bettendorf, Iowa (3.90/psychology). All three helped
their teams to the NCAA tournament, with Vanderbilt set to face
Georgia Saturday night in the NCAA West regional semifinals.

The College Divisions include one man and two women with perfect
4.00 GPA's -- James Fox of Case Western, a senior from
Willoughby, Ohio, who is the men's GTE Academic All-America
Team Member of the Year; Julie Roe of Millikin, a senior from
Pinckneyville, Ill. who is the women's Team Member of the Year;
and Kristen Schaefer of Augustana (Ill.), a senior from
Chicago, Ill.

In total, the 20 student-athletes named to the first team in
both divisions have an average GPA of 3.86, with four posting
perfect 4.00 GPA's and six helping their team to the NCAA tournament.

"For the first time in the history of the GTE Academic All-America
program, we have two members of the first team who are on the
number one team in the country," said CoSIDA chairman Dick
Lipe. "It is a unique accomplishment for two outstanding
individuals, and they should be commended along with the other
team members for displaying the perfect combination of athletic
skill and academic excellence."

The GTE Academic All-America
Teams are selected by a vote of the 1,800-member (CoSIDA). To
be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve
and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00.
Sports information directors nominate eligible athletes from
their schools who are named to district teams prior to being voted
upon on the national level. CoSIDA has been selecting Academic
All-America teams since 1952.

GTE, one of the largest publicly held telecommunications companies
in the world, has been the exclusive sponsor of the Academic All-America
program since 1985. GTE is also the largest U.S.-based local
telephone company and a leading cellular-service provider -- with
wireline and wireless operations that form a market area covering
about one-third of the country's population.

To extend its support of college athletics, GTE recently became
the "Official Telecommunications Consultant" to the
NCAA as well as the Pacific-10, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences.

Following is a list of the GTE Academic All-America Men's
and Women's Basketball Teams in the University and College Divisions:

1997 GTE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAMS

UNIVERSITY DIVISION FIRST TEAM

UNIVERSITY DIVISION SECOND TEAM

UNIVERSITY DIVISION THIRD TEAM

* GTE Academic All-America Team Member of the Year - University Division

COLLEGE DIVISION FIRST TEAM

COLLEGE DIVISION SECOND TEAM

COLLEGE DIVISION THIRD TEAM

** GTE Academic All-America Team Member of the Year - College Division

1997 GTE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAMS

UNIVERSITY DIVISION FIRST TEAM

UNIVERSITY DIVISION SECOND TEAM

UNIVERSITY DIVISION THIRD TEAM

3.82/MathEducation

* GTE Academic All-America Team Member of
the Year - University Division

COLLEGE DIVISION FIRST TEAM

COLLEGE DIVISION SECOND TEAM

COLLEGE DIVISION THIRD TEAM

.

** GTE Academic All-America Team Member of the Year - College Division

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