KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Trine men's basketball team has been recognized for its academic performance by the National Basketball Coaches Association, the organization announced today.
The Thunder earned one of the organization's Team Academic Excellence Awards. The honor is selected by the NABC Committee on Academics. The awards recognize teams with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better for the 2016-17 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 basketball student-athletes who competed during the 2016-17 season.
As a team, Trine earned a cumulative 3.15 GPA during the 2016-17 school year. The honor continues a string of academic success that has also seen the team earn recognition from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association each of the past two seasons.
Individual academic success on the national and regional level has become a trend for the Thunder the past two seasons. In 2016-17, Will Dixon was recognized as a CoSIDA Academic All-District performer for his combined work athletically and in the classroom. The honor followed up Jared Holmquist's recognition as the 2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year.
The NABC also releases an honors court, which salutes student-athletes who have earned a 3.2 GPA or higher as a junior or senior and play for an institution with a NABC-member coach. The NABC Honors Court will be released in the coming weeks.
Trine made its sixth consecutive appearance in the MIAA Tournament semifinals this year. The Thunder concluded the season 14-12 overall and finished third in the MIAA with a 9-5 mark in league action. Dixon earned the third All-MIAA First Team honor of his career, while Kyle Dodson was named to the Second Team. Dixon went on to earn All-Great Lakes honors from the NABC.
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. 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.