Elon Women’s Basketball’s Burnett Set to Join Athletes in Action Trip to Brazil

ELON, N.C. – Shay Burnett, the fourth-leading scorer in Elon University women’s basketball history, has joined forces with Athletes in Action for a trip to São Paulo, Brazil, to participate in the International University Sports America Games later this month.

Joining a team of former student-athletes from across the country, Burnett will take part in a training camp at AIA headquarters in Xenia, Ohio, before heading to Brazil. In all, the trip will last from July 14-30. The Brazil FISU Games are a multi-sport event similar to the Pan American Games held for countries of North and South America every other year. This year’s FISU Games will host 20-25 different countries.

“It is a huge blessing to be selected to play in an event like this,” Burnett said. “I am excited and honored to represent my family, school and faith to the utmost of my abilities. I also want to thank Athletes in Action and USA Basketball for allowing me to continue my basketball career in the beautiful country of Brazil and can’t wait to get the adventure started.”

Burnett is the fourth Phoenix women’s basketball player to participate in an Athletes in Action tour in the last seven years. Sam Coffer joined the program for a 2012 trip to Brazil, Lauren Brown visited Poland in 2015 and Malaya Johnson went to the Ivory Coast in 2017.

Burnett closed her four-year career in maroon and gold in March as one of the most decorated players in program history. Paired with Johnson, the two became the first Phoenix student-athletes to play postseason basketball each of their four years with the program at the Division I level. Her final point total of 1,567 stands as the fourth-most in Elon history and her 894 rebounds also placed fourth on the all-time charts while the 563 assists are the second-most.

On the trip as an assistant coach is former Elon women’s basketball student-athlete Susan Yow. Yow was a member of the program’s first teams from 1972-75 and is a member of the Elon Athletics Hall of Fame after being inducted as part of the Class of 1993.

For additional information about Athletes in Action, visit the organization’s website at www.athletesinaction.org or aiabasketball.org.