The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association-champion Hope College men’s basketball team has earned the National Association of Basketball Coaches Team Academic Excellence Award for the 2016-17 season.
The NABC academic awards, created by the NABC Committee on Academics, recognize outstanding
academic achievement by teams with cumulative grade point averages of 3.0 or better
for a school year.
In order to earn an 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 in a season.
On the court, the Flying Dutchmen finished the 2016-17 season with a 23-7 overall record, including a first-place MIAA record of 13-1. Hope reached the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Head coach Greg Mitchell said he is proud of how well his players represented their team and Hope College as a whole.
“The academic achievement just correlates with the type of group we had and the success on and off the floor that these guys experienced,” Mitchell said. “They were a group of focused, priority-aware men who understood the value and results of hard work.
“I too think it’s a reflection of the positive culture we have. These guys want to live up to the standard that they have created and bought into.”