Jada Graves earns CSC First Team Academic All-American honor

Jada Graves closed one of the most decorated careers in New Mexico Junior College history with a CSC First Team Academic All-American honor, giving the Thunderbirds a player who left with school records, major awards and a 3.96 GPA.

On July 8, Graves became just the second Thunderbird ever to earn CSC Academic All-American recognition. College Sports Communicators has run the Academic All-America program since 1952, and its College Division at-large team includes two-year colleges. Cross country and track distance runner Damaris Chewon was the first Thunderbird to break through in 2023. “What an incredible honor to cap off one of the most decorated careers in NMJC history,” women’s basketball coach Austin Mefford said.

Graves’ basketball résumé matched the academic one. In 2025-26, she was named the WBCA Two-Year College Player of the Year and earned NJCAA Second Team All-American, All-Region V, Western Junior College Athletic Conference All-Conference and WJCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. She averaged 18.9 points, 6.9 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game, with shooting marks of 46.9 percent from the field and 77.3 percent at the line. She also finished with 233 assists and 642 points, school-record totals for a single season.

Her biggest scoring night came on Jan. 19, 2026, when she dropped 41 points in a road win over then-No. 1 South Plains, tying the program record for points in a game. Graves scored 13 points in the first quarter alone and had 24 by halftime as NMJC led 41-30. She also helped NMJC beat No. 1 Butler in the national tournament and earned a spot on the NJCAA All-Tournament Team during the program’s second-ever trip to the national event.

Mefford said Graves balanced all of it while taking animal science coursework and preparing for a future in veterinary medicine. She finished her junior college run with a 3.96 GPA and is headed to Lamar University as a 5-foot-3 guard from Amarillo, Texas, after two seasons at NMJC.