A U.S.based Nigerian tennis player, Tamina Kienka, has been named as a member to the 2015 All American Division 1 Academic men’s team.

A statement released by Godwin Kienka, Coordinator of International Tennis Academy (ITF), said that Kienka’s selection was announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America on Tuesday.

Tamina Kienka

“Earning the distinction of Academic All-American is quite an honour because it celebrates those athletes who have distinguished themselves in academics and sports in the U.S., each year.

“The award is symbolic of Kienka’s scholarly talent,’’ it quotes Curtis Lawson, Director of Tennis at the North Carolina Central University (NCCU), where Kienka is a senior (final year) as saying.

The statement noted that Kienka, a former national junior, was the first NCCU tennis player to ever earn the Academic All-America acclaim, stressing that he won at the district level in 2014 and 2015.

It added that Kienka played a total of 53 matches in four years at NCCU and capped his collegiate career 7-2 in his nine trips to the court.

“In academics, the 20-year-old from Rivers State, entered the spring semester with a 4.0 grade point average (GPA).

“A biology (pre-med) and pharmaceutical science major, Kienka received the Department of Biology Award for the highest performance as a senior,’’ it said.

Kienka is the second NCCU student-athlete to attain Academic All-America status since the institution transitioned to Division 1 over a decade ago