Jacksonville State University Athletics

Lisa Baswell is considered one the best players in the Gamecocks' Division I history and is the only player, male or female, in Jax State history to be selected as the Academic All-American of the Year. She was a two-time First-Team Academic All-American.
While excelling in the classroom, Baswell twice set school records for free throw percentage and became the sixth member of the school's 1,000-point club. Despite only playing two seasons for the Gamecocks, she finished with 1,187 points and her record of 28 games scoring in double figures still stands today. 

As a senior in 1999-2000, she started all 28 games and averaged 20.3 points, which led the ASUN, and also averaged 6.6 rebounds to rank fifth in the conference. She went 123-for-144 from the free throw line to post an impressive .854 shooting percentage. During her junior season, she averaged 32.3 points per game to lead the ASUN and rank 15th nationally and her 85.5 percent from the free throw line also led the league. She was also named to the 1999 ASUN All-Tournament team after helping the Gamecocks reach the conference tournament championship game. She tied the school record by scoring 46 points against Alabama A&M, hitting 18-of-22 from the field and 10-of-11 from the free throw line with 11 rebounds on December 15, 1998.

She was voted the recipient of Jax State's prestigious Eagle Owl Award and also served as president of the JSU Student-Athelte Advisory Committee while also volunteering as an event coordinator for the Special Olympics.

Now Lisa (Baswell) Bates, the Locust Fork, Ala., native became the first person in the history of the Atlantic Sun to be designated Student Athlete of the Year for two consecutive years, earning the honor in 1999 and 2000. Following her collegiate career, Bates became the volleyball and girl's basketball head coach at Sand Rock High School. Over the next 25 years, she led SRHS to multiple Alabama High School Athletic Associate (AHSAA) state Final Fours in both sports. In 2019, she was named the AHSAA "Making a Difference" Award winner for all of Class 2A. That same year, she was inducted into the Blount County Hall of Fame. In 2024, she reached the 500-win milestone as Sand Rock's varsity girl's basketball coach.