July 15, 2026
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) has announced the recipients of the 2025-26 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards and NABC Honors Court, representing achievement in the classroom by men's college basketball teams and individual players.
The 2025-26 Dakota State University men's basketball team received the Team Academic Excellence award, while four individuals earned the NABC Honors Court honor.
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards recognize programs that completed the 2025-26 academic year with a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes junior, senior, and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the 2025-26 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.
The NABC's academic awards are presented annually to teams and athletes from all levels of college basketball.
Over 2,300 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court and over 400 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2025-26.
Below are the four individuals that received the NABC Honors Court (name – position – year – hometown – major):
- Aiden Jensen – center – junior – Madison, S.D. – business management
- Brayden Pankonen – guard – junior – Dell Rapids, S.D. – business finance
- Lukas Morgan – forward – sophomore – Sioux Falls, S.D. – cyber operations
- Taine Mitchell – forward – graduate student – Adelaide, Australia – master's in education and technology
