The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Ariel Atkins named Senior CLASS Award Second-Team All-American
03.29.2018 | Women's Basketball
Atkins helped lead Texas to 108 victories and four NCAA Sweet 16 appearances.
Senior Texas women's basketball player Ariel Atkins has been named a Senior CLASS Award Second-Team All-American, it was announced Thursday.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: classroom, community, character and competition.
Atkins recently completed her highly decorated career with the Texas women's basketball team. The three-time All-Big 12 Conference player and a four-time member of the Academic All-Big 12 teams, Atkins helped lead the Longhorns to 108 victories, four NCAA Sweet 16 appearances and one NCAA Elite Eight appearance during her four years on the Forty Acres.
Atkins, who has been a nominee for the Allstate Good Works Team, has been heavily involved in the Neighborhood Longhorns program and participated in the U.S. Olympic Committee's Finding Leaders Among Minorities Everywhere (FLAME) program. She also has been recognized by the Big 12's Champions for Life program.
Atkins played in 121 career games with 100 starts, scoring in double figures on 81 occasions. Her career free-throw percentage of 83.1 ranks fourth all-time in UT history, her career free-throw percentage of 83.1 ranks sixth all-time in UT history and her career scoring total of 1,497 points is 20th in program history.
As a senior in 2017-18, Atkins started all 35 games for the Longhorns, leading her team with 14.9 points per game and 2.5 steals per game. She scored in double figures 29 times, including eight 20-plus-point performances. Atkins was the only player in the Big 12 Conference to rank among the league's top-20 in the eight statistical categories of points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, steals per game, assist-to-turnover ratio, field-goal percentage, three-point field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage. She ranked second in the Big 12 in steals per game (2.5) and three-point field goal percentage (.420).
Senior CLASS Award First-Team All-Americans
Lexie Brown, Duke
Tyra Buss, Indiana
Emily Clemens, Western Illinois
Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State
Gabby Williams, UConn
Senior CLASS Award Second-Team All-Americans
Ariel Atkins, Texas
Rebecca Greenwell, Duke
Delaney Hodgins, Eastern Washington
Kaylee Jensen, Oklahoma State
Jackie Kemph, Saint Louis
