July 12, 2017
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team has been honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches with a Team Academic Excellence Award for the first time in program history.
The fifth-annual award recognition honors outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2016-17 season. In order to receive the award, institutions in the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA must count the grade point averages of all men’s student-athletes who competed during the 2016-17 season.
Notre Dame compiled a 3.074 team GPA for the 2016-17 season.
“The culture of our program insists that you compete in the classroom as much as you compete on the court,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said.
The Irish join Florida State and Louisville as the three Atlantic Coast Conference teams to earn the award. Among those that advanced to the 2017 NCAA Championship tournament, Notre Dame, FSU, Louisville, Butler, Gonzaga, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Princeton, Purdue, Kansas and West Virginia found a spot on the NABC academic honors list.