The University of Illinois Springfield men's basketball team was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award. The Prairie Stars earned the award for the fourth time in five years.
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Award recognizes men's basketball programs that completed the 2023-24 academic year with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Four Prairie Stars were also named to NABC Honors Court. Isaiah Esker, Yamani Shareef, Max Kunnert, and Jason Bergstrom were recognized as junior, senior, or graduate men's basketball student-athletes with GPAs of 3.20 or higher during the 2023-24 school year. Esker and Bergstrom each earned the award for the second time, while Shareef claimed his third.
The UIS men's basketball program has now seen athletes make the NABC Honors Court in five consecutive school years.
The NABC's academic awards recognize teams and athletes from all levels of college basketball. Over 2,100 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court and over 360 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2023-24.
NABC Release