HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Following an impressive 2018-19 season both on the court and in the classroom, four Northern Kentucky men's basketball players earned a spot on the NABC Honors Court. Tre Cobbs, Drew McDonald, Zaynah Robinson and Dantez Walton each collected the award by virtue of holding cumulative GPAs above a 3.20 at the conclusion the season.
 
Recognition on the Honors Court for the Four Norse comes on the heels of the men's basketball program earning the Team Academic Excellence Award after averaging a cumulative 3.10 team GPA last year, which included a 3.09 GPA in the fall semester and 3.11 spring mark. To be considered for the team award, the NABC requires a 3.0 GPA averaged across the two semesters.
 
McDonald and Walton paced the Norse in the classroom, as the duo also earned Horizon League All-Academic honors this year. McDonald, a three-time academic all-league honoree, posted a 3.40 GPA as a marketing major. This is the second-straight NABC Honors Court accolade for McDonald, who 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. Walton collected his first all-academic and NABC Honors Court awards due to a 3.63 mark in organizational leadership.
 
Cobbs and Robinson join Walton as first-time honorees. Cobbs holds a 3.37 GPA in organizational leadership and Robinson sported a 3.85 as a integrative studies major in NKU's graduate program.
 
During the 2018-19 campaign, NKU won its second-straight Horizon League regular-season title and a second league tournament crown in a three-year span. In just three years with active Division I status, the Norse have competed twice in the NCAA Tournament (2017, 2019) and once 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.