BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Five members of the Bridgewater State University men's basketball team have been named to the 2021-2022 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Courts which recognizes men's basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the past season.
Over 2,000 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court and over 300 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2021-22. The NABC Honors Court recognizes the talents and gifts that these student-athletes possess off the court and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom.
Earning the honor from Bridgewater State are juniors Jabray Griffin (Orlando, Fla.), Max Schraut (Abington, Mass.) and Benjamin Vitale (Carver, Mass.); senior Alan Pettway (Worcester, Mass.); and graduate student Jordan Wetterlind (Twig, Minn.).
In the classroom, Griffin currently sports a 3.60 cumulative grade point average (GPA) and is majoring in communication studies, while Schraut is majoring in marketing with a 3.55 GPA. Vitale is a physical education major with a 3.36 GPA.
Pettway graduated this past June with a 3.23 GPA as he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. Wetterlind posted a 3.48 GPA in his first year of graduate school as he is majoring in public administration.
In order to be named to the Honors Court, a student-athlete must be a junior, senior or graduate student and a varsity player, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2021-2022 academic year. Students must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution and the institution must be a member of an NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Division I or II with a NABC member coach.
“Academic success is a core value of the NABC and a priority shared by men’s basketball programs across the country,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. “Excellence in the classroom requires hard work and dedication, and the NABC considers it a privilege to honor these deserving student-athletes and the coaches and staff who support them.”
The BSU men's basketball squad is also one of 302 teams from across the country to be recognized with the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award. The award recognizes outstanding academic achievement by teams with cumulative grade point averages (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2021-2022 season. The Bears, who are the only team from the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) to earn the honor, recorded a team GPA of 3.04 for the 2021-2022 academic year.