College Notebook

Duke alumna Thomas voted to start 2017 WNBA All-Star Game

Duke University alumna Jasmine Thomas of the Connecticut Sun was selected one of 10 WNBA players to start the 2017 Verizon WNBA All-Star game, which will take place July 22.

The All-Star game will be aired live on ABC at 3:30 p.m. from KeyArena in Seattle, Wash.

Thomas, a 2011 Duke graduate, received her first WNBA All-Star nod as she is averaging career highs of 15.0 points and 5.2 assists. In the WNBA, Thomas ranks fifth in assists, 17th in scoring and 11th in steals (1.4). She has accumulated four games of 20 or more points and registered a career-high 29 points against Seattle on June 29. Thomas has also dished a season-high 11 assists and swiped a season-best five steals against Atlanta and Washington, respectively.

Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote to determine the starters for the All-Star game, while players and a media panel accounted for 25 percent each.

After votes were tallied, players were ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes. The five players with the best score in each conference were named starters.

Fellow Duke alumnae Karima Christmas-Kelly of the Dallas Wings placed ninth in the Western Conference Frontcourt voting, while Chelsea Gray and Alana Beard of Los Angeles finished seventh and 10th, in the Western Conference Guards voting, respectively.

Wake Forest: Senior tight end Cam Serigne has been named to the 2017 Preseason Mackey Award watch list, which is given annually to the nation’s most outstanding collegiate tight end. Defensive end Duke Ejiofor was named to the Bednarik Award preseason watch list as announced by the Maxwell Football Club. Redshirt junior Ryan Anderson was named to the 2017 Preseason Rimington Award Watch List. That award is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA FBS football.

UNC: Junior Brandon Fritts was named to the 2017 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List, while graduate student Cam Dillard was named to the Rimington Award Watch List.

Duke: Redshirt junior Daniel Helm has been selected to the preseason watch list for the John Mackey Award. It is the first year Helm has been on the watch list. Meanwhile, redshirt senior center Austin Davis has been named to the preseason Rimington Trophy Watch List.

N.C. State: Senior tight end Cole Cook has been named to the preseason watch list for the 2017 John Mackey Award.

Elon: The athletics department announced Tuesday game times for all 11 of its contests on the 2017 schedule. The Phoenix will open its 2017 campaign with a 7 p.m. kick at Toledo on Aug. 31. After two weeks on the road, the team will return to Rhodes Stadium. On Sept. 16, the Phoenix hosts Charleston Southern at 6 p.m.

Duke: The Blue Devil tandem of Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell have accepted invitations to attend the 2017 USA Basketball Women’s U-23 National Team Training Camp, which will take place July 31 through Aug. 4 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Duke: A trio of former Blue Devils is set to take part in the 2017 Federation of International Lacrosse World Cup, which starts Wednesday at the Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, Surrey, England.

2011 graduate Sarah Bullard is set to captain Team USA at the world championship, while 2016 graduate Emma Lazaroff will play for Israel and 2015 graduate Kerrin Maurer for Italy. Bullard previously captured World Cup titles with the U.S. in 2009 and 2013 while Lazaroff and Maurer will be making their World Cup debuts.

UNC: The Tar Heels, 2016 NCAA semifinalists and 2016 ACC Tournament finalists, will play 17 regular season games in 2017, beginning with a matchup against Duke on Aug. 18 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. That will be a non-conference game for the Heels.

With a new Fetzer Field under construction on the UNC campus, the Tar Heels will play only six games as a home team this year out of a schedule of 17 regular-season contests. All six of those games will be played at Wake Med Soccer Park.

N.C. State: Head coach Linda Hampton-Keith on Tuesday announced the program’s 2017 schedule, highlighted by 12 matches against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams. The Wolfpack open the season at home on Aug. 25 with a tough matchup against national powerhouse Kansas,

ECU: For the second straight year, both the baseball (3.27 GPA) and women’s golf programs (3.84 GPA) have been honored with the AAC Team Academic Excellence Award, according to an announcement Tuesday by Commissioner Mike Aresco. The Team Academic Excellence Award is given to the team in each conference-sponsored sport with the highest grade point average for the 2016-17 academic year.

Wake Forest: The athletics department and Daktronics announced Tuesday their partnership to bring 35 LED displays to the LJVM Coliseum. The installation of more than 5,000 square feet of LED displays will be completed this summer and will be used starting with 2017-18 Demon Deacon home games. The project will use a total 4.8 million LEDs. It would take 133 60-inch televisions to cover the five centerhung displays.

From news releases

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 11:30 PM with the headline "College Notebook."