Men’s Basketball Earns NABC Honors

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NABC announced the recipients of the 2022-23 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards and NABC Honors Court on Thursday afternoon, representing outstanding achievement in the classroom by men's college basketball teams and student-athletes.

For the third time in program history, the Mitchell College men's basketball team received the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, while three Mariner student-athletes were also recognized. Ahmani Browne and Samuel Jackson earned the honor for the second time in their careers, while Dontae Pollard was a first-time recipient. Browne and Jackson become just the fourth and fifth Mitchell players to earn the distinction twice, joining Tyler Peretz, Domenico Santiago and Matt Finke.

The NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards recognize men's basketball programs that completed the 2022-23 academic year with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the 2022-23 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher. The Mitchell men's basketball program has produced 19 NABC Honors Court honorees since 2018.

"Education is a core value of the NABC, and we are privileged to recognize these outstanding student-athletes and the coaches and support staff who invest in their development," said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. "The hundreds of teams and thousands of players that qualified for NABC academic awards this season are a testament to our sport's ongoing prioritization of success in the classroom."

Mitchell finished the season with a 23-5 overall record, the most wins in the program's Division III history. The Mariners went undefeated on their home court and 6-0 in league play en route to their fourth conference title. Mitchell also earned the NECC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and eventually fell to Johns Hopkins University in the first round.

Over 1,800 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court and over 300 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2022-23. A full list of Honors Court recipients is available by clicking here.

About the National Association of Basketball Coaches (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.