FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Athletics Department has named women's basketball player Jordin Alexander and baseball player Mario Leon as recipients of the FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month award for February.

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.

A graduate transfer from Brown University, Alexander (Fishers, Ind./Brown/Hamilton Southeastern HS) is working toward her Master's in Public Administration at FGCU. The redshirt senior guard turned in a 4.0 GPA in her first semester of grad school. Additionally, for her performance both on the court and in the classroom, she was one of two Eagles named to the 2016-17 CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 Team.

On the court, the former two-time Second Team All-Ivy League performer played an instrumental role in helping FGCU punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last six seasons as she averaged 12.7 points, 5.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds in three ASUN Tournament games. In FGCU's ASUN Championship matchup against top-seeded Stetson, the redshirt senior guard narrowly missed on recording a triple-double as she totaled 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the Eagles 77-70 win against the Hatters. Alexander was one of three Eagles named to the ASUN All-Tournament Team.

Throughout the season, the Indiana native appeared in all 34 contests for the Green and Blue and garnered starts in 32 of those games. She turned a season-high 24 points against Jacksonville on Feb. 4 and has scored double-digit points in the last six games en route to earning Second Team All-Conference honors. When it came to the conference schedule, Alexander improved her production from 6.4 points per game in the non-conference to 11.1 points per game against league competition. On the season, Alexander lead the Eagles in steals (50), assists (94) and assists per game (2.8) while ranking second on the team in minutes per game (27.5) and third in points per game (8.8).

A redshirt junior pitcher on the surging FGCU baseball team, Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) is a Communication Major with a 3.81 GPA during his time at FGCU. He is a six-time member of the Dean's List for turning in a GPA of 3.5 or higher and most recently made the President's List during the fall with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Additionally, Leon has been a FGCU Honors Luncheon Recipient in each of his three years of eligibility.

Along with his academic achievements, Leon has served a large leadership role not only at FGCU, but also at the conference and national levels. A two-year Eagles Council President and three-year member of the SAAC, Leon has not only represented FGCU at numerous ASUN meetings, but he's also had the opportunity to attend a pair of NCAA conferences, which includes serving as the ASUN's male representative at the NCAA Leadership Forum in Baltimore, Md., last fall.

In three starts for the Green and Blue this season – including the season opener against Sacred Heart – Leon is off to his best start as an Eagle as he has posted a 1-1 record with a 3.77 ERA. Last Tuesday, the local product from Naples, Fla., earned the midweek start against then #2 Florida and led FGCU to its first of two wins against the Gators. Leon tossed a season-high 7.0 innings and allowed two runs on six hits with three strikeouts. A leader both on and off the field, he's played an important role in helping FGCU to its best start in Division I program history (14-3) and highest national ranking (#21).  

FGCU ATHLETICS
In its 9th year as a Division-I member, FGCU has won a combined 60 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 28 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.