HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky men's basketball added another honor to its impressive 2018-19 campaign, earning distinction from the National Association of Basketball Coaches with the 2018-19 Team Academic Excellence Award. This marks the second time in as many years that the Norse have collected the accolade.
 
Following a 3.09 GPA in the fall semester, the men's basketball student-athletes elevated their spring GPA to 3.11 for a yearly average of 3.10. To be considered for the award, the NABC requires a 3.0 GPA averaged across the two semesters.
 
Across all divisions, 150 men's basketball programs earned the #NABCTeamExcellence Award. NKU was one of 40 Division I programs and one of three from the Horizon League.
 
Drew McDonald and Dantez Walton helped lead the Norse's way in the classroom, as the duo earned Horizon League All-Academic honors this year. McDonald posted a 3.40 GPA and was a three-time academic all-league honoree as a marketing major, while Walton collected his first academic award thanks to a 3.57 mark in organizational leadership. McDonald also earned distinction as a member of the DI-AAA ADA Scholar Team and Google Cloud Academic All-District IV honoree, while also being one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.
 
On the court, Northern Kentucky won its second-straight Horizon League regular-season title and a second league tournament crown in the last three seasons. In just three years with active Division I status, NKU has participated twice in the NCAA Tournament (2017, 2019) and one in the NIT (2018).
 
About the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. For additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, go to www.nabc.org.