Caltech Men’s Basketball Receives NABC Academic Excellence Award, Four Beavers Named to Honors Court

The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its 2023-24 Academic Awards on Monday, naming Caltech Men’s Basketball to the Team Academic Excellence honor and four Beaver players to the NABC Honors Court.

Caltech collected the team achievement for achieving a team GPA of 3.0 or higher for the most recent academic year.

At the individual level, senior Leo Williams (Southfield, Mich. / Wylie E. Groves) along with juniors James Downs (Huntington Beach, Calif. / Huntington Beach), Evan Portnoi (Short Hills, N.J. / Northfield Mount Hermon) and Riley Wood (Richmond, Va. / St. Christopher’s School) collected Honors Court distinction for earning a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the academic year. Only juniors, seniors and graduate students were eligible to receive the prestigious honor.

This is the second scholar-athlete award for Downs and Portnoi this year; the two players received Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators (CSC) this past March.

The program will bring back Downs, Portnoi and Wood as they take on competition in 2024-25. Williams — the program’s lone senior — graduated from the Institute this past June.

For the full release from the NABC, click here.

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