Lion men's basketball earns NABC Team Academic Excellence Award

The Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s basketball team has been recognized as a recipient of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award, as announced by the NABC Thursday. These awards recognize outstanding academic achievement by teams with cumulative grade point averages (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2016-17 season.

The Lions – in the final season under longtime head coach Sam Walker followed by the transition in leadership to new head coach Jaret von Rosenberg – recorded a 3.169 grade point average and were also named the Lone Star Conference Academic Champions. A&M-Commerce is the only LSC team to earn the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award in 2016-17, and only the second LSC team to earn the award since its inception in 2012-13.

“This is another great honor for our team and the work they put in to improve and maintain great academic performance,” von Rosenberg said. “After the team started strong under coach Walker and his staff, they did a great job with their academic work in the Thrower Center led by Judy Sackfield and Victoria Kisluk. I’m glad we can celebrate true student-athlete achievement, and I look forward to more chances to recognize a Best In Class effort.”

The Lions are one of nine teams in the state of Texas to earn the award in 2016-17, joined by Dallas Baptist, Rice, San Jacinto, Southwestern, St. Edward’s, Texas A&M, Texas State, and Trinity.

-Josh Manck
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