KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Senior Ryan Fitzpatrick, junior Aidan Trynosky, and the Elizabethtown College men's basketball team were recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as the organization announced both its Team Academic Excellence Award and Honors Court this past week.
 
In order to be named to the Honors Court, a student-athlete must meet a high standard of academic criteria. The qualifications are as follows: Academically a junior or senior and a varsity player, cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year, must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution, and a member of a NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA Division I institution with a NABC member coach.
 
Trynosky and Fitzpatrick both earned Landmark Conference Winter Academic Roll honors in 2021. The duo are the first recipients of the award since Ethan Dubois earned the accolade in 2019. It is also the most recipients for the men's program in a single season since Mike Church, Josh Houseal, and Mark Vogel each received the award in 2010.
 
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Award recognizes outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2020-21 season.
 
This is the second NABC Team Academic Award for the men's basketball program, recording a cumulative grade point average of 3.15. Both academic awards have been earned under head coach Britt Moore.
 
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.