KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the second time in program history the Gallaudet University men's basketball team earned the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award as announced on Wednesday. The 2020-21 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards are the ninth annual released by the organization.
These awards recognize outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2020-21 season. In order to earn a NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, institutions in the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA must count the grade point averages of all men's student-athletes who were on a roster during the 2020-21 season. Gallaudet's 2020-21 athletic season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NABC recognized 258 different programs. Gallaudet is one of three schools from the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) as the Bison join Penn St.-Abington and Penn St.-Harrisburg. Gallaudet and The Catholic University of America are they only programs from the District of Columbia on the list.
"Winning in the classroom is very important in our program as we strive to build winners on and off the court," said Gallaudet men's basketball coach Kevin Kovacs.
In addition to the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, three Bison student-athletes earned NABC Honors Court recogniton. Gallaudet's honorees include Shawn Daniels (Lakeland, Fla.), Dylan Sicoli (Austin, Texas) and Wilford Troup (Snellville, Ga.). The NABC Honors Court highlights the talents and gifts that these student-athletes possess on the court and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom. In order to be named to the NABC Honors Court, you must be a junior or senior, have a 3.2 GPA or higher, be on a varsity for at least one year and the head coach must be a member of the NABC.
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About NABC
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. For additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, go to www.nabc.org.
