WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The academic honors continued to roll in for William and Mary men's tennis senior John Banks, who was recently selected as an initiate to Phi Beta Kappa. An all-conference player on the courts, Banks carries a near perfect grade point average as an economics major. Banks was one of three Tribe student-athletes along with senior field hockey player Taylor Hodge (Louisville, Ky.) and senior volleyball/wmen's basketball player Jaclyn McKenna (Huntington, N.Y.) as part of the 46 honorees for the fall 2013 semester.

Earlier this year, Banks was named the 2013 recipient of the Robert Usry Award, which is given to a W&M varsity athlete who has earned at least one varsity letter, has the highest GPA of any athlete at the end of his/her junior year and has completed 75 percent of his/her degree requirements for graduation. He is also a three-time W&M Provost Award winner and a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete honoree. In 2013, he was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District first team for the men's at-large division.

On the court, Banks was a Third-Team All-CAA selection in singles in 2013, while leading the Green and Gold in singles (21) and doubles (18) victories. The Charlotte, N.C., native owns 47 career singles wins and 55 career doubles victories. This fall, Banks posted four singles victories and a team-leading six doubles wins.

Phi Beta Kappa was founded December 5, 1776 at William and Mary as the first Greek-letter fraternity and is now the nation's oldest and most prestigious collegiate honor society with chapters at more than 280 colleges and universities.  According to the organization's website, "Phi Beta Kappa celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Its campus chapters invite for induction the most outstanding arts and sciences students at America's leading colleges and universities. The Society sponsors activities to advance these studies — the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences — in higher education and in society at large."

With three electees this fall, the Tribe athletic department has now had 61 athletes named to PBK since 1990 and 257 total (since 1899). Hodge, Banks, and McKenna will be honored during a brief ceremony Wednesday night during the men's basketball game vs. Richmond, and the official induction ceremony will take place on Thursday night, Dec. 5, at the Wren Building.

Banks and the Tribe will start the dual-match season on the road with trips to N.C. State on Friday, Jan. 10, at 4 p.m. and to Elon on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 11 a.m. W&M's first home matches of the season will come as part of a doubleheader on Tuesday, Jan. 14, when it welcomes Norfolk State and Campbell to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The Tribe meets the Spartans at 11 a.m., before facing the Camels at 5 p.m.

Click on the Student-Athletes Photo or Name to view the Sport-Specific Release.