Gallaudet men's basketball earns first NABC Team Academic Excellence Award

Gallaudet Men’s Basketball Team Earns NABC Academic Excellence Award

For the first time in its 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, July 12, 2017.

The 2016-17 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards are the fifth 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 2016-17 season. To earn an 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 competed during the 2016-17 season.
The NABC recognized 210 different programs. Gallaudet is the lone representative from the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) and joins The Catholic University of America as they only program from the District of Columbia on the list.

“It speaks volumes in what we believe and strive for in our program,” said Kevin Kovacs, Gallaudet men’s basketball coach. “Academics is just as important as our basketball skills and building their character that will help them become successful after they earn their degrees and graduate. We are tremendously proud of their hard work on and off the court along with their record-breaking season. They have set the bar high for future teams to follow and build on.”

Gallaudet finished the 2016-17 season with a program-record 20 wins and 18 conference wins to earn the GU’s first NEAC Men’s Basketball South Division regular-season championship. The Bison earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament where they fell in the semifinals. Gallaudet earned four all-conference honors and Kovacs was named NEAC Coach of the Year.
For more information, please see the Official NABC Press Release (PDF).