KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Twenty NCAA® women’s and men’s basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as finalists Monday for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award®. Tennessee’s Rennia Davis is among those in contention for the honor.
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: community, classroom, character and competition. A complete list of candidates is included in the link above.
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.
Davis, a 6-foot-2 senior guard/forward from Jacksonville, Fla., is averaging 16.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 82.0 percent from the free-throw line. She is in the process of becoming one of only five players who rank in the top 10 in both career scoring and rebounding average at UT, standing 10th (15.1) and sixth (8.0), respectively. Davis also is en route to becoming only the 13th UT woman to average double figures in scoring all four years of her career.
In conference play, Davis is sixth among her peers at 19.1 ppg. and is ninth in rebounding at 9.0 rpg. She is fifth in field goal percentage (50.3) and free throw percentage (84.1). Against ranked foes, Davis is putting up 20.3 ppg. and 11.0 rpg. while shooting 49.5 and 86.2 percent from the field and charity stripe, respectively. Those numbers have made her a candidate for the Wade Trophy, Naismith Trophy, John R. Wooden Award and Cheryl Miller Award.
Through 19 games this season, Davis leads the Lady Vols with seven double-doubles and has 36 for her career to tie for fourth all-time at Tennessee. She has scored 20+ points on six occasions as a senior, tallying 19 such games during her career to stack up seventh in program annals. Davis also pulled down 20 rebounds vs. No. 12/12 Kentucky on Jan. 24, becoming only the eighth Lady Vol to do that and tying for the fifth-highest total in UT history.
Davis has led No. 16 Tennessee to a 13-6 overall record this season with four victories over teams ranked in the top 15, including No. 2/3 South Carolina. The Lady Vols currently stand in fourth place in the SEC standings at 7-4.
Off the court, Davis is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member. Additionally, she earned the 2019-20 Chancellor’s Honors – Extraordinary Academic Achievement Award at Tennessee.
She is a 2019-20 product of the year-long leadership curriculum of UT’s VOLeaders Academy. By using their platform in sport, student-athletes admitted into the VOLeaders Academy learn how to positively impact their team, campus and local and global communities. The program aims to inspire student-athletes to find ways to use their passion of sport and their influence to enact positive change that transcends their athletic success.
Davis arrived at Tennessee after completing an associate of arts degree while attending high school. In three years, the aspiring restaurateur graduated from UT with a degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism management with a minor in business administration. This season, she is pursuing a master’s in agricultural leadership, education and communication.
The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 women’s candidates and 30 men’s candidates announced earlier in the season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through March 22. Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winners. The Senior CLASS Award recipients will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Women’s Final Four® and NCAA Men’s Final Four®.
-UT Athletics
