STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton Athletics has announced that Texan Volleyball's Emma Burke and Texan Men's Basketball's Jakorie Smith are The Grove Student-Athletes of the Month for November.
The student-athlete of the month is selected based on the all-around student-athlete for one female and one male. The student-athlete shows effort and excellence in academics, leadership, civility, dedication to the team, campus involvement, community service, and the ability to serve as role models for current and future Tarleton State University students and student-athletes.
To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better. Only athletes competing in their championship season are eligible for the award each month.
Burke was a mainstay in Tarleton's November push to the WAC Tournament, helping the Texans go 3-1 to end the regular season and then a near-upset of No. 3 UTRGV in Utah. She accumulated 37 kills on a .448 hitting percentage, with 18 blocks and a total 50.5 points across the five matches. To start the month, Burke tallied eight kills and eight blocks in Tarleton's 3-1 win over Grand Canyon, then followed up with eight kills on 10 attacks (.800 hit percentage) in the Texans' sweep of California Baptist. After the season concluded, Burke was named Second Team All-WAC, becoming the second Texan to earn recognition on the first or second postseason teams since Tarleton joined the NCAA Division I ranks.
As for Smith, he helped the Texans to a 5-2 mark in November, including a SoCal Challenge Sand Division Championship. He was crowned the Most Valuable Player in that event and was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week. He scored 20-plus points twice during the month, including a career-high 34 points (12-20 FG, 6-10 3PT) in Tarleton's 82-65 win at Florida International. He added a career-high six steals in that game, to go with a career-high-tying eight rebounds. To end the month, he helped Tarleton State hold off Stephen F. Austin on the road with a free throw with 11 seconds to play, a game Tarleton won by two. Across seven games in November, Smith averaged 16.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 steals.
Once selected as a student-athlete of the month, the recipients are eligible to be selected for Tarleton Student-Athlete of the Year award at the end of the season.
The list of the year's complete award winners are as follows:
September: Kevin Baez (Cross Country) and Rajini Fitzmaurice (Volleyball)
October: Darius Cooper (Football) and Avery Harr (Soccer)
November: Jakorie Smith (Men's Basketball) and Emma Burke (Volleyball)
ABOUT THE GROVE
The Grove is a fully-furnished apartment complex in Stephenville catered to the students of Tarleton State University. They will be the title sponsor of the Student-Athlete of the Month awards for the 2023-24 season.
