FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Athletics Department has named women's basketball player Taylor Gradinjan and men's basketball player Demetris Morant as recipients of the FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month award for December.

Each month during the school year, the FGCU Athletics Communication Office and Athletic Academic staff will choose a pair of Eagles as the FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month. Those selected for the honor will have exhibited a combination of superior athletic and overall academic success.

Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) exemplifies what it means to be a student-athlete on and off the court as she recently finished her first semester working toward her Master's in Health Science with a 4.0 GPA. The Cudahy, Wis., native earned her Bachelor of Science in 2016 and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 3.78 GPA. She is a two-time member of the President's List for turning in a perfect 4.0 GPA and was also named to the Dean's List with a GPA of 3.5 or higher on six separate occasions. Additionally, she has been named to the FGCU Honor Roll every semester since stepping foot on campus and has been eligible for the Student-Athlete Academic Honors Luncheon every year.

On the court, Gradinjan is the Eagles top returning scorer from last year's team that made an appearance in the WNIT Championship Game and currently ranks second on the team with 9.0 points per game during her redshirt-junior campaign. As a team captain, Gradinjan has played an instrumental role in FGCU's current eight-game win streak and 3-0 start in conference play. The sharp-shooter scored a season-high 17 points after going 4-for-5 from three-point range in a win against FAU in December and followed it with a 16-point performance and 5-for-7 clip from behind the arc against North Carolina A&T. After leading the ASUN with 90 three-pointers during the 2015-16 season, Gradinjan ranks third in the league with 44 three-pointers this year and seventh with a 36.1 percent clip from long range.

In 97 career games, Gradinjan ranks fifth in program history with 182 three-point field goals made. She has taken home postseason honors in each of her first two full seasons with the Green and Blue as she was named to the ASUN All-Freshman Team in 2014-15 and earned ASUN All-Academic Team honors following last season. Additionally, Gradinjan played a key role in FGCU's 2015 NCAA Tournament appearance by scoring six points in the Eagles first-round win against Oklahoma State and tallying a team-high 12 points in their second-round matchup with FSU.

Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) is a Communications major with a 3.06 cumulative GPA in his time as an undergrad split between UNLV and FGCU. He is a one-time member of the Dean's List after turning in a 3.57 GPA last spring and recently finished off the fall semester with a 3.42 GPA – making his way onto the FGCU Honor Roll for the third time.

In the midst of a career year that has FGCU atop the ASUN standings with a 14-5 overall record and 3-0 mark to start conference play, Morant is the Eagles most-improved player. Nineteen games into the season, the Miami native is putting up career-high numbers in points per game (10.3), rebounds per game (7.8), field goal percentage (73.5) and free throw percentage (70.6). If Morant had enough field goals made per game (5.0) to qualify in the NCAA, he would rank third in country on a team that is also shooting at the third-best clip (52.1) in the nation this season. To go along with his league-high field goal percentage, Morant, who was named the ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, also sits atop the conference in blocks per game (1.7) and ranks fifth in rebounds per game.

The 6-foot-9 forward has played an instrumental role in the Eagles' impressive play of late as he is averaging a double-double with 13.9 points and 10.1 rebounds over the last nine games. Morant poured in a career-high 20 points against Florida Tech last month and also grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds against Georgia Southern, which is the most in DI program history in a game that ended in regulation. A season ago, Morant kicked off the NCAA Tournament with an alley-oop dunk and was one of four players to register double-digit points in FGCU's blowout win against Fairleigh Dickinson, marking the Eagles' third NCAA Tournament victory in four seasons.

FGCU ATHLETICS
In its 9th year as a Division-I member, FGCU has won a combined 56 conference regular season and tournament titles as a member of the ASUN Conference and Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association. In just its 5th year of D-I postseason eligibility, FGCU has made 25 total NCAA Championship appearances, and seven programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sports. In 2014-15, FGCU finished 9th in the Division I-AAA Learfield Sports Director Cup final standings, ahead of several prominent Big East, Missouri Valley and Atlantic 10 Conference members. Ticket information for upcoming events is available at FGCUAthletics.com/tickets or by calling 239-590-7145. Additional news and schedule information is available at FGCUAthletics.com. Follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEagles), Facebook (/FGCUAthletics), Instagram (@FGCUAthletics) and YouTube (/FGCUAthletics).

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.