Butler earns NJCAA All-American honors

Butler earns NJCAA All-American honors

Butler earns NJCAA All-American honors in tennis
Adam Gore/ICC Sports Information Department

FULTON, MS – Itawamba Community College Hall of Fame tennis coach Paul Johnson announced freshman Lewis Butler has been named All-American by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) on Wednesday.

"Lewis had a great year for us this season," said Johnson. "He beat the number one player in the nation during the regular season and I think the sky is the limit for him and his future in tennis."

Butler advanced to the quarterfinals of the No. 1 singles championship bracket to help the Indians finish 14th in the NJCAA National Tennis Championships while winning the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles championships to lead ICC to their third-straight Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) championship.

The Cleveland, MS native was the only player from the state of Mississippi to earn All-American honors and is the first-ever men's player to earn the award in the storied history of the ICC tennis program.

Butler becomes the fourth ICC student-athlete to earn All-American status during the 2011-12 sports season. Sophomore Jameika Hoskins (Aberdeen) was named to the third-team in women's basketball, freshman Jessi Patterson (Nettleton) was named to the third-team in softball and freshman Ben Hudspeth (Tupelo) was named to the first-team in baseball.