/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/23896677/l5709761.0.jpg)
Villanova helped to send track and field star Nnenna Lynch to the school's first Rhodes Scholarship in 1992, after she helped the school to four consecutive cross country titles. Lynch went on to work at Goldman Sachs and then to help set and implement New York City's economic development strategies.
Following in her footsteps will be a junior forward on the Villanova women's basketball team — Jessica Wamala was one of just 32 American students who were awarded a Rhodes Scholarship this year. The scholarship will allow the Political Science and Arab and Islamic Studies major to travel to Oxford, England and, "study any full-time postgraduate course offered by the university," over the course of up to two years.
According to the Associated Press, Wamala hopes to join the Foreign Service after completing her studies. The Milford, New Hampshire native also won the Truman Scholarship as a junior in 2012.
She is a co-captain on the women's basketball team, where she is currently a fifth-year senior. She played in 13 games last season, up from five in 2011-12 and has been one of the players who have shown the most consistent improvement on the court.
Wamala's selection was Villanova's third Rhodes Scholarship.
More from VU Hoops:
- John Robertson named CAA Offensive Player of the Week
- BIG EAST Basketball Preview: Week 4
- The Sun's Arizin: Villanova Wildcats news and links for November 25, 2013
- Villanova vs. Lafayette recap: Defense dominant, Lady Cats destroy Leopards 60-33
- NCAA Cross Country Championships: Emily Lipari finishes 5th, Patrick Tiernan 9th