2019 CCCAA Scholar-Athletes and Scholar Teams announced

SACRAMENTO – El Camino College quarterback Aaron Thomas and Sacramento City College point guard Brandy Huffhines combined excellence with their teams and in the classroom on their way to being selected as the Men’s and Women’s Scholar-Athlete Award winners by the California Community College Athletic Association, it was announced on Friday.

The pair will be honored at the annual CCCAA Convention which will be held at the Doubletree at Ontario Airport from March 31-April 3. They’ll join 19 other accomplished impressive student-athletes from conferences throughout the state who earned distinction on the Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll, and 24 programs that will receive Scholar Team Awards.

All of the Scholar-Athlete award winners are recognized for excelling academically with at least a 3.50 GPA, athletically and in citizenship, and represent the positive outcome of dedication, hard work, and service. The Scholar Team Award is the highest academic team achievement given annually by the CCCAA. All team members must have excelled academically with a total GPA of 3.0 or higher. The teams have also demonstrated better than average accomplishments in intercollegiate athletic competition.  

Thomas showed his commitment to academics before even enrolling at El Camino by emailing the Warriors’ athletic counselors to introduce himself and make sure he was doing what was necessary to matriculate to the college. That ambition and dedication set the table for an academic career at El Camino in which he posted a perfect 4.0 GPA over 62 units on his way to graduating with honors in just three full-time semesters. Thomas’ academics culminated with him being accepted to his “dream school” of Boise State University where he currently attends.

Thomas started games at quarterback during the 2017 and 2018 seasons at El Camino, throwing a dozen touchdown passes and completing nearly 60 percent of his attempts. He also engineered several come-from-behind wins during his sophomore campaign, helping the Warriors claim their first conference championship in 10 seasons. Thomas completed a season-high 24 passes for 245 yards in the finale against Riverside City to help highlight his year.

Away from El Camino, he volunteered at Valencia High School helping to coach the football teams and worked at nearby Six Flags Hurricane Harbor to help finance his education.

As the leader on the floor for the Sacramento City women’s basketball team, Huffhines pushed the Panthers to success and a near berth in the state championship tournament in 2018. Off the floor, she pushed herself with a rigorous academic workload in Biology/Pre-Med while finishing with a spotless 4.0 GPA. Athletic counselor Victoria Cornelius said Huffhines “challenged herself every day – always succeeding.” She was named Sacramento City College’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was an Academic All-State honoree.

Huffhines averaged 14.7 ppg. during her career, while starting all 56 games she played and serving as a two-year team captain. She was named all-tournament at two events in her sophomore season, including the prestigious College of the Sequoias Tournament, which is considered the most competitive in the state. Huffhines was an All-State and All-Big 8 Convention selection, had four games with at least 25 points, shot nearly 50 percent from the field and made 83 percent of her free throws. Huffhines averaged 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals as well.

Her coach, Julia Allender, said “To say she is a coach’s dream is an understatement. To say this individual will be tremendously successful in life and make a positive impact on society is a safe bet.” Huffhines isn’t done on the court yet either after earning a full-ride scholarship to continue her playing career at Cal State Northridge.