Georgia College & State University inducted women’s basketball’s Shanteona Keys and softball’s Whitney (Okvist) Pape to the GCSU Athletics Hall of Fame, making up the 2025 Class, on Oct. 17. 

In 2006, GCSU established the Athletics Hall of Fame to commemorate athletes who were not only exceptional on the field and in the box scores but also extraordinary off the field, representing the university through academics and extracurricular activities. Keys and Pape were recognized as the 43rd and 44th inductees to the GCSU Athletics Hall of Fame. 

“I personally got to witness both of these inductees from the time they were freshmen,” said Wendell Staton, GCSU Director of Athletics. “The neat thing is, you develop these relationships, and then to become lifelong friends, that’s the beauty of what we do in education. I’m thrilled for them and their families.”

Beginning with Keys, a remarkable guard for the Bobcats from 2011-15, she finished her career as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,822 points, placing her 10th on the Peach Belt Conference list. Keys averaged 16.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game in her 110-game illustrious career at GCSU. She racked up 549 rebounds in her career, and shot 43 percent from the field—36.2 percent from beyond the arc.

“Honestly, it’s not something I’ve been able to process quite yet,” Keys said. “It’s something I always knew was a possibility, given the career that I had here. But being here at the ceremony right now, I see all the relationships I’ve built. I’ve got a mass communications teacher, my rhetoric teachers, my athletic director, the current basketball team and my roommate when I was here. All these people that I grew to love while I was here are still supporting me—even Dr. Whipple, whom I had my freshman year.”

Keys, who was the 2011-12 Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Year, graduated with a degree in mass communication and a minor in rhetoric and was named to the College Sports Communicators All-America Team twice during her career. Keys also graduated as valedictorian in the spring of 2015, the ninth Bobcat student-athlete to accomplish the feat. She is just one of seven Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball athletes to be named an All-Conference selection all four seasons during her career. 

Keys earned the Peach Belt Conference Elite 15 Award for women’s basketball twice, was named the league’s NCAA Woman of the Year nominee in 2014-15, and was named the Peach Belt’s Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2014-15. 

“It’s a special moment to have a former women’s basketball player at GCSU get inducted,” said Catrina Green, head coach of the GCSU women’s basketball team. “It shows the level of greatness we can achieve with the student-athletes we recruit. I’m a firm believer that if you can see it, you can believe it, and this allows my girls to come and experience this moment, allowing them to continue to reach for the sky and achieve greatness.”

The Roswell, Georgia native was named to the WBCA Allstate Good Works Team. She was a finalist for the Arthur Ashe Leadership Award in 2014-15. She represented the Peach Belt on the NCAA Division II national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for four years. She was also the first Division II student-athlete named to the prestigious Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. 

“It’s really special to be here. I think this is what I was most excited about. It’s not necessarily going into a whole thing. It’s great that a banner will be put up in Centennial, but celebrating these relationships is what I’m most excited about,” Keys said.

Pape impressively patrolled the outfield for the Bobcats for four seasons, from 2011-14, concluding her career with an elite 163 stolen bases, an impeccable 84 stolen bases ahead of second place. The record also sits in first place all-time for the Peach Belt Conference, and 11th all-time in NCAA Division II history. 

Pape holds three of the eight single-season stolen base records in the Peach Belt Conference, and is the only athlete in the conference’s history to have three seasons with forty or more stolen bases. Pape’s 52 stolen base season in 2012 is the GCSU single-season record and third all-time in Peach Belt Conference single-season history. Her 52 stolen bases that season ranked third in all of Division II. 

The Kennesaw, Georgia native posted a .377 batting average in 195 career games. Pape holds the GCSU record for hits (244) and runs scored (174), and is second in at-bats (648). She laced 18 doubles, 16 triples and 53 runs batted in during her exceptional career. 

“All the hard work that my team and I put in has really paid off,” Pape said. “I couldn’t do this without my teammates, so this is not just about me; it’s also about them. I’m honored to have this achievement.”

Pape was also named a Peach Belt Conference softball All-Conference selection in all four seasons of her career, making her only the 22nd softball athlete to complete the task. Pape helped the Bobcats advance to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals in 2013. 

Pape, who became the sixth softball athlete to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s all-regional team three times and named to the NFCA All-American team in 2012 and 2014. Pape graduated with a degree in early childhood education and was named to the NFCA All-Academic team in 2014. 

“I think it’s a really great thing to witness,” said Brittany Johnson, head coach of the GCSU softball team. “When someone gets inducted to the Hall of Fame, you can see all the loved ones all around, all the teammates that have come back, and you can see the type of impact that Whitney has had both on and off the field. I think that’s what’s truly special.”

Pape holds the Peach Belt Conference record for most hits in a single game, with six against Young Harris College on Mar. 27, 2012. She also had three stolen bases in the impressive performance. 

“You have to have had a pretty special career, both as a Bobcat student athlete and since you graduated, to be selected for this Hall of Fame honor,” said Cathy Cox, GCSU President. “This is a pretty special night every year, but tonight we’ve got two real rock star honorees. Two women who have stood out as student athletes and who have accomplished a lot in their careers afterwards. There’s a lot of reunion, and it makes this special for them and their family. It’s one of the best feel-good nights of the year.”