KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced the recipients of the 2021-22 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards and NABC Honors Court. The Kenyon College Owls, for the ninth consecutive season, earned the Team Academic Excellence Award, while five members of the 2021-22 team claimed individual spots on the Honors Court.
Every week seems to bring new honors earned by the Kenyon College athletics programs and their student-athletes. Last week, the men's basketball team joined the cavalcade of honored scholar-athletes.
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards recognize men’s basketball programs that completed the 2021-22 academic year with a team grade point average of 3.0 or better. The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes junior, senior and graduate student men’s basketball players who finished the 2021-22 year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or better.
As a team, the 23 student-athletes on Kenyon’s 2021-22 roster combined to post a 3.37 grade point average, the team’s best mark since first earning the NABC award following the 2012-13 campaign.
Individually, the five Owls earning Honors Court recognition included seniors Christian Watanabe and Elijah Friedman, and juniors Dylan Osimetha, Kamal Aubakirov and Sam Walch. Both Watanabe and Friedman graduated as two-time winners of the award.
SIDEBAR
WBCA presents Lady Owls with academic special mention
ATLANTA – The Kenyon women's basketball team also worked hard in the classroom and was recognized for it. The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) released the list of collegiate teams that earned spots on the 2021-22 WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll. Although the Kenyon College women didn’t crack the Top 25, they did earn special mention from the WBCA.
To be nominated for Top 25 consideration, all student-athletes on a team roster, for the entire season, had to combine for a minimum team grade point average of 3.0. This year marked the first time the WBCA gave special mention to all teams that reached that level, regardless of rank.
“The WBCA family of coaches is committed to the student-athlete experience and celebrates these teams that have demonstrated excellence in the classroom,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. “We are also pleased this year to recognize all teams that achieved the minimum 3.0 combined grade point average required for nomination. That alone is no small feat considering the rigors of playing college athletics.”
Kenyon’s 2021-22 roster, which included 14 student-athletes, produced a team grade point average of 3.606. That averaged ranked 37th among all NCAA Division III teams that submitted a nomination.
