KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the third consecutive season, the Fresno State men's basketball program earned the Team Academic Excellence Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the organization announced on Thursday.
Fresno State was one of two Mountain West institutions (Colorado State) to earn the distinction for the 2022-23 season, which recognizes programs with a 3.0 or higher cumulative team grade point average during the past year.
Additionally, Leo Colimerio, along with graduate students Jemarl Baker and Alexander Gorton, were named to the NABC Honors Court. This is the first time in program history that three Bulldogs earned NABC Honors Court accolades in the same season.
There have now been five different student-athletes to earn the NABC's top individual honor in head coach Justin Hutson's first five seasons at Fresno State, which is the most of any coach in program history.
A total of eight Bulldogs have combined to collect 12 honors court selections in the past 14 seasons.
To earn a spot on the honors court, a student-athlete must be in their academic junior, senior or graduate year, a varsity player with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher and be enrolled in a four-year institution with a NABC-member coach.
Fresno State – All-Time NABC Team Excellence Awards
2020-21: Team Excellence Award
2021-22: Team Excellence Award
2022-23: Team Excellence Award
Fresno State – All-Time NABC Honors Court Honorees
2009-10: Nedeljko Golubovic
2013-14: Tanner Giddings
2015-16: Jahmel Taylor
2016-17: Jahmel Taylor
2017-18: Sam Bittner & Jahmel Taylor
2018-19: Sam Bittner
2021-22: Jemarl Baker & Orlando Robinson
2022-23: Jemarl Baker, Leo Colimerio & Alexander Gorton
About the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes. The five core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service, education and inclusion.