ATLANTA, Ga. – Georgia Tech women’s basketball senior Katarina Vuckovic is one of 20 student-athletes across the country named a Wooden Citizenship Cup semi-finalist. The 13th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is awarded to the most outstanding role models among athletes across professional, collegiate and high school levels.
Last year, Vuckovic was one of five Division I women’s basketball student-athletes to be named to the 2016 Allstate WBCA Good Works Team for her dedication to bettering the lives of others through giving back to their communities. The Smederevo, Serbia, native is involved in numerous community service activities since her arrival on campus in 2013. Vuckovic has volunteered with Urban Perform, helping to build a basketball court for the local community, Safe House, a local soup kitchen, the Ronald McDonald House and the Boys and Girls Club Day for Kids.
Additionally, Vuckovic aided her teammates in adopting a family during the holidays every season and visited patients at the Shepard Center. Vuckovic also volunteered with Girls on the Run, helping promote healthy habits among local girls. The senior traveled to the Dominican Republic with fellow Yellow Jackets for a service trip where they interacted with locals, taught them how to play sports and built a house.
On the court, Vuckovic has taken the floor in 115 games in four years and averages 5.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 22.3 minutes per game.
“We are very proud of the contributions Katarina has made to her community during her Georgia Tech career,” commented head women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph. “She is the epitome of the total person and student-athlete that we work to develop at Georgia Tech.”
Founded by Athletes for a Better World (ABW), the non-profit organization committed to changing the culture of American sports, the Wooden Cup is unique in that it is open to athletes in all collegiate and Olympic or professional sports, and, for the first time in history, to high school athletes.
The Wooden Cup is named for John Wooden, who won 10 national championships during the years 1964-1975 as basketball coach at UCLA. But it was Wooden’s emphasis on character development in his players and his dedication to community service that drew ABW’s attention. The inaugural award was presented in 2005, and since the annual award has been presented to two distinguished athletes, one collegiate and one professional or Olympic, for character and leadership both on and off the field and for contributions to sport and society.
The professional recipient this year is Dick Vitale. The 2017 award ceremony will be held April 11 at Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria with Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe and analyst for ESPN, serving as the Master of Ceremonies.
