Winning on the court and in the classroom

Men's Basketball Honored for Academic Excellence by NABC

The California State University Maritime Academy men's basketball team was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award on Wednesday.  The Keelhaulers posted a cumulative GPA of over 3.0 making the team eligible for the prestigious award. Cal Maritime was one of 7 NAIA schools and one of 122 schools nationally, across NAIA I and II and NCAA D I, II, and III to earn the award.  The team was also the only member of the California State University system to be honored by the NABC.

"We are incredibly proud of the commitment our student-athletes have made in multiple phases of their lives including academically.  Our team set several goals at the beginning of the season with earning this award being a top priority," Cal Maritime head coach Bryan Rooney said. "Similar to our on the court success, we were led by our excellent senior leadership in the classroom."

In addition to the team award, five individual student-athletes were named members of the NABC 2015-16 Honors Court. In order to be eligible, student-athletes must be either a junior or senior and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the academic year.  Seniors Kameron Hoyt, Zach Davis, Alec Fetzer, and Blaine Shively as well as junior Travis Arenas earned the distinction through their academic achievement.

"Handling the responsibilities of a student-athlete at the collegiate level is a very daunting task.  Kameron, Zach, Alec, Blaine and Travis are tremendous examples of the benefits of having a tireless work ethic.  All are accomplished leaders and this award demonstrates their commitment to leadership in the classroom.  Their futures are very bright and we are thankful for the opportunity to call them Keelhaulers," concluded Coach Rooney.