Two basketball standouts at Kent State University had slam-dunks on and off the court this year as they hauled in conference crowns, tourney bids and prestigious NCAA academic awards.

Kate Miller, a senior history major, and Demetric Shaw, a senior chemistry and pre-medicine major, both were awarded $5,000 NCAA postgraduate scholarships this year.

Kent State was the only institution in all three NCAA divisions to have both a male and female basketball player chosen, and it was one of only seven institutions to have both a male and female student-athlete honored for winter sports.

Miller and Shaw, both team co-captains, led their respective teams to Mid-American Conference regular-season championships, MAC tournament crowns and berths in the NCAA tournament this year, marking the first time in MAC history a single school accomplished this double feat. Both also graduated this spring.

Miller, who graduated with a perfect grade-point average in history, averaged 14.4 points and 2.6 assists per game in leading the Golden Flashes. She was named to the all-MAC first team and also became the first Kent State women's basketball player to be selected as a first-team Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Miller spent this summer in Kenya, where she worked with other Americans to build the first library in the town of Kunene. Her work there included a variety of hands-on projects in addition to becoming acquainted with the Kenyans and their daily struggles to provide food, water and shelter for themselves and their livestock.

Her next step is the exploration of graduate schools. To that end, she is doing some traveling in the States.

"Obviously, I am taking a year off to take a deep breath and get my bearings straight," Miller said. "I have been doing a lot of research and reading on my area of interest, and along with this trip I am looking at naturopathic medical schools while I travel. I also have been talking to others in the profession to see what it is all about. In the next year, I just want to get a feel for where life will take me. My mind is incredibly open to explore different avenues, but obviously school is one of those avenues. It is an incredible honor to receive the postgraduate scholarship."

Bob Lindsay, Kent State's head women's basketball coach, said the Golden Flashes can't help but miss her when practice starts this fall.

"Winning the scholarship shows what a great leader Katie is, which she shows through example," Lindsay said. "She was a great factor in the success of our team this past season, especially toward the end of the season when we really needed her.

"Kate's intelligence, work ethic and love for the game of basketball made our team much better. I really don't know if we could have had the type of season we did without her."

Shaw, who graduated with a double major in chemistry and pre-medicine, was named the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after averaging 7.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game during 2001-02. He helped lead the Golden Flashes to a school-record 30 wins en route to a trip to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. He also was named to the Verizon Academic All-District IV Team for the second time.

Shaw plans to attend medical school, though not this year. At the moment he has returned to his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, where he is trying to pursue his dream of a professional basketball career. If that doesn't pan out, Shaw plans to attend medical school.

"The postgraduate scholarships show how seriously the NCAA wants athletes to succeed in their professional fields, and that they back student-athletes 100 percent," Shaw said. "I'm very appreciative of the award. It's the best one I've received, even better than the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. It also made it worth it to be a student-athlete all along."

Jim Christian, who served the men's program as top assistant last year and was promoted to head men's coach in April, said the Golden Flashes will point to Shaw as a role model for others.

"We're very proud of Demetric. He was a vital part of our team's success on the basketball court the past few seasons, but he has been even more successful in the classroom. He is a great example of what it means to be a student-athlete on the Division I level," Christian said. "I know he will do well in whatever he does after college."