NEWS : Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu receives prestigious U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian Award

An academic all-star, a team leader, and a community force, Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu has been selected as a U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian Award winner for the 2020-2021 season.

The Gee-Gees leading scorer and rebounder on the court this season, Lefebvre-Okankwu has left an impressive legacy over her five years at uOttawa.

She was selected as the Faculty of Science Valedictorian at her convocation in June of 2020 when she received her Honours Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science and Minor in Psychology. She is now pursuing an Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology degree, and holds a cumulative GPA of 10.0 in that program. 

Lefebvre-Okankwu has been successfully balancing academics, athletics, and community work since she began her time in Garnet and Grey. A four-time Academic All-Canadian, Brigitte was selected to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team in 2017-18 and was also the uOttawa Rookie of the Year across all sports that season.

"She came in as a person who was involved in so many things and she has always wanted to be a good student first. Her priority is definitely in school but she has been committed on the court," says Gee-Gees head coach Rose-Anne Joly who also coached Brigitte at her CEGEP. 

"Everything she does is at 100 per cent and she is expecting nothing less than an A-plus. For other people coming into the program and to look and watch her do all these things, it's just a motivator for everyone," continues Joly. "It's not everyone's personality and it's not everyone who is comfortable doing that, but that's Brigitte, and I'm very proud of her."

During the 2021-22 regular season she recorded her 1000th career regular season point and her 500th career regular season rebound - she is second in Gee-Gees team history for career scoring and third in career rebounds.

In December of 2020, Brigitte signed her first contract to play basketball professionally. She joined Sharjah Sports Basketball Club in Dubai in UAE's premier league before returning to Ottawa at the end of the season to re-join the Gee-Gees for 2021-2022. Midway through the 2021-22 season, she inked a contract to play in Australia for summer of 2022.

Lefebvre-Okankwu is a founding member of the Black Student-Athletes Advocacy Council at uOttawa and serves on the executive committee as secretary. She helped spearhead a fundraising and awareness campaign for Black Lives Matter in 2020 with a virtual run of 1666 kilometres to Minneapolis. The effort sparked important conversations and raised $3200 which was donated across several organizations chosen by the Gee-Gees women's basketball team: Black History Ottawa, The Odawa Native Friendship Centre, The Congress of Black Women of Canada, Indigenous Sport & Wellness Ontario, and Colour of Change.

She has travelled to Togo and Haiti with the Gee-Gees to help build basketball courts for community sports programs, and also works to promote underestimated sports, music, and artistic talent in Gatineau through Underdog Mixtape. "You get to see how basketball brings so many people together," says Lefebvre-Okankwu. "I love being part of different causes and making an impact."

The Academic All-Canadian program celebrates the athletic and academic achievements of U SPORTS student-athletes who maintain at least an 80 per cent average while competing on behalf of their university. Among these outstanding individuals, one female and one male student-athlete from each of the four conferences are selected annually to make up the U SPORTS Top 8.

Brigitte is the first Gee-Gees basketball player to receive this honour from U SPORTS. There have been eight total Gee-Gees who have received the Top 8 Award, stretching back to 1995-96.

Gee-Gees Top 8 Academic All-Canadians:

2020-2021 - Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu, women's basketball

2016-2017 - Katherine Bearne, women's soccer

2016-2017 - Eric Locke, men's hockey

2001-2002 - Alex Hayes, men's swimming

2001-2002 - Lauren Fratesi, women's swimming

2000-2001 - Karina Verdon, women's hockey

1999-2000 - Alex Hayes, men's swimming

1998-1999 - Nathalie Côté, women's track and field and cross country

1995-1996 - Vicki White, women's soccer