KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Suffolk men's basketball took home its sixth consecutive Team Academic Excellence Award from National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), which also recognized a trio of Rams – Conor Creane, John Gates and Aidan Sullivan, on the NABC Honors Court.
The team academic award, which was created by the NABC Committee on Academics, has honored institutions in the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA for academic achievements over the last decade with the Rams appearing on the list each of the last six seasons. All of Suffolk's recognitions have come in the Jeff Juron era.
In order to achieve NABC Team Academic Excellence Award status, which started in 2012-13, programs must achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better during the 2021-22 academic year. Suffolk's 15-player roster just made the cut as it combined for a 3.012 GPA.
The blue-and-gold, who has picked up the recognition every year since 2016-17, is one of four Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) teams to earn the feat this season along with Roger Williams, Salve Regina and Wentworth.
The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the 2021-22 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.
Creane garnered the accolade for the second straight season, while Gates and Sullivan are first-time honorees.
Suffolk is one of four CCC programs represented on the 2021-22 list with seven Leopards from Wentworth, six Seahawks from Salve Regina and four Hawks from Roger Williams joining the trio of Rams.
NABC has been honoring student-athletes or academic achievements with the Honor Court since the 2006-07 season. Suffolk's first nods came in 2008-09. Since Juron took over the program in 2015-16, 15 Rams have combined for 20 NABC Honor Court awards. Overall, the blue-and-gold has seen 17 student-athletes grab 22 NABC Honor Court accolades.