KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) is once again well-represented in national academic honors, with five men's basketball programs earning 2024-25 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards and 35 student-athletes named to the NABC Honors Court.

The awards, presented annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, recognize academic achievement across all levels of college basketball.

Team Academic Excellence Awards

The NABC Team Academic Excellence Award is given to programs that recorded a team GPA of 3.0 or higher during the 2024-25 academic year. Nearly 400 teams nationwide received the honor, including five from the MIAA:

• Albion College

• Calvin University

• Hope College

• Kalamazoo College

• Trine University

NABC Honors Court

A total of 35 MIAA men's basketball student-athletes earned spots on the 2024-25 NABC Honors Court, which recognizes juniors, seniors, and graduate students who maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.

Albion College

• AJ Barden, senior – Communication Studies

• Nate Childers, junior – Finance

• Marco Lucchesi, senior – Economics and Integrated Marketing Communications

• Kam Mayes, junior – Marketing Management

• Michael Umeh, junior – Marketing Management

• Beck Willems, junior – English/Secondary Education

Alma College

• Seth Bradford, senior – Business Analytics

• Josh Elliott, junior – Business

• Paul Gadde, senior – Business Analytics

• Aidan Judsen, senior – Computer Science

Calvin University

• Uchenna Egekeze, graduate student – MBA, Marketing

• Michael Morris, junior – Accounting

• Jalen Overway, junior – Business/Marketing

• Luka Ressler, junior – Kinesiology/Exercise Science

• Owen Varnado, senior – Pre-Law Economics

• Trevin Winkle, junior – Secondary Education/Kinesiology

Hope College

• Deven Marathe, junior – Pre-Med

• Justice Mims, junior – Kinesiology

• Gabe Quillan, senior – Business

• Carson Sanders, junior – Business

• Eli Schoonveld, senior – Business

Kalamazoo College

• Carter Bandemer, junior – Business

• Dougie Blackwood, junior – Business

• Lukas Broadsword, senior – Quantitative Economics

• Caleb Caul, junior – Business

• DJ Courtney, senior – Business

• Lucas Hanifan, junior – Business

• Jack Wheeler, senior – Business

Trine University

• Evan Lumbrezer, junior – Engineering

• Logan McKenzie, junior – Exercise Science

• Trevor Montiel, graduate student – Business Administration

• Grant Pahl, senior – Accounting

• Colin Shriver, junior – Business

• Aidan Smylie, senior – Business Administration

• Nate Tucker, junior – Finance

The NABC academic awards program continues to highlight the commitment of collegiate men’s basketball players to excellence in the classroom, in addition to their dedication on the court. The MIAA celebrates these student-athletes for their hard work and leadership in both arenas.