Bearcats Earn Team Academic Excellence Award from NABC

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's basketball team has received the Team Academic Excellence Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2017-18 season. A total of 186 college teams from all three NCAA divisions, both NAIA divisions and the NJCAA qualified for the award.

Willamette was the only Northwest Conference team to be honored this year. It was the fourth consecutive season that the Bearcats earned the award.

"This is a testament to the work ethic of our players to be honored amongst all the D1, D2 and D3 teams in the country with this award," Willamette Head Coach Kip Ioane said. "I'm very proud of the fact this is the fourth year in a row we have been on the list. It proves our guys take competing in the classroom as seriously as they do competing on the floor."

In order to qualify for the the Team Academic Excellence Award the cumulative grade point average for a team had to be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Each team's GPA included all players who competed during the season.

The Bearcats finished 2017-18 with an 11-14 overall record, an improvement of seven wins from the previous season. Willamette will open the 2018-19 regular season with a home game against LeTourneau University (Texas) at Cone Field House on Nov. 9. Game time is set for 7 p.m. (PST).