Cameasha Turner's extraordinary rise from the hardscrabble streets of Dallas to basketball and academic stardom at UTEP took its biggest step yet Thursday when she was one of five players named to the second-team Division I Academic All-America basketball team.
A total of 15 Division I players nationally earn the recognition: five on the first, second and third teams.
"I'm so blessed," said Turner, who is on track to graduate this spring with a 4.0 grade-point average in Criminal Justice and is a captain and returning all-Conference USA player for the league-champion basketball team. "A lot of hard work has payed off.