(MIAMI, Jan. 25, 2016) -- A pair of FIU women's basketball commitments, Kayla Rogers and Alexis Gordon, have found their names on the list of nominees for the 2015-16 McDonald's All-America team.
 
As a boon to the first-year FIU coaching staff, both of these 5-foot-8 Floridian guards that signed with the Panthers in November, were among those on the national All-America nominees list. Rogers is from Jacksonville, and Gordon plays in Palm Bay.
 
"The nominations of Kayla and Alexis for such a prestigious honor is really nice for our program and a great start for what we want to do here," said FIU Head Coach Marlin Chinn. "Kayla's Ribault high school program is a two-time state champion, so she is a winner. Alexis comes from a great AAU program that has a winning tradition too, so she understands what it takes to win games. We want to recruit winners and people who like to win."
 
Rogers is outstanding in the classroom and the court. She averaged 9.5 points and 4.9 assists per game last season for Ribault High, which finished with a No. 10 ranking in the state of Florida. She has earned two straight All-Gateway Conference honors. During her Ribault career, the program won two Florida 5A Championships (2013, 2014) and is currently 21-1 and ranked No. 1 in the state by maxpreps.com as the Trojans head into the District Three Tournament this week. Of the Trojans' 21 wins, 17 were by 20-or-more points, six coming by at least 50 points.
 
Having already earned her high school diploma, Rogers is currently attending college classes at nearby Florida State College at Jacksonville. She is scheduled to receive an Associate of Arts degree this spring, while finishing her prep playing career.
 
"I was honored and excited to find out that I was nominated," said Rogers. "I already had a high bar set for myself and this caused me to raise it even higher. I think my confidence level is up and I have played even better on the court this season."
 
Gordon is averaging just under 25 points per game this season, along with 4.5 assists and steals per contest for the Covenant Christian Lions. She is a two-time Athlete of the Year (2013 and 2014) at Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Fla., where she played prior to her arrival in Palm Bay. She was also named Second-Team All-Space Coast in 2014. Her move to Covenant Christian was to push herself academically. She has risen to that challenge.
 
"Our athletics director came in the gym and asked me if I had seen the nomination," recalled Gordon on the day she found out she was nominated. "What a blessing this is! I know a few of the girls on the list, both on my teams and who I have played against, so it's a big deal to be able to be on there with those great players and to have people appreciate all of the hard work we put in."
 
"It's an honor for these two young ladies and it's an honor for them to trust our program enough to develop them in their college careers," added Chinn.
 
Rogers and Gordon are among four signed players, Jamesia Amand and Sydney Fields are the others, along with transfer Erin Garner, joining the squad in the fall of 2016.
  
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWBB) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWBasketball) for all the latest FIU women's basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and at the FIU Football Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.