By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University men's basketball team has received the Team Academic Excellence Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2019-20 season. The Bearcats earned the honor for the sixth consecutive year.

This year, 316 college teams from all three NCAA divisions, both NAIA divisions and the NJCAA qualified for the award. Willamette and Pacific Lutheran University and Whitworth University were the only Northwest Conference teams to qualify. Willamette is the only NWC team that has received the award each of the last six seasons.

"As a team, we had a difficult year on the court so for the guys to maintain their focus and resolve in the classroom is a true test to their character!."
-- Willamette Head Coach Kip Ioane

In order to qualify for the Team Academic Excellence Award, the cumulative grade point average for a team had to be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Each team's GPA included all players who competed during the season.

Eighteen Bearcats played for Willamette during the 2019-20 season. Ten players saw action in at least 20 of the 25 games. Daniel Plumer (Fy., PG, North Las Vegas, NV/Democracy Preparatory Academy) led the team with 15.7 points per game, while Ben Sutton (Jr., F, Seattle, WA/Ingraham HS) provided 10.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

Note:  Academic year listed for each player is for the 2019-20 season.