“DUKE DOES IT AGAIN: Blue Devils Earn Third Straight Academic Excellence Honor — 5 Players Named to National Honors Court”
The classroom dominance continues in Durham. For the third consecutive year, the Duke men’s basketball team has been honored with the prestigious NABC Team Academic Excellence Award — a reflection of elite performance far beyond Cameron Indoor. Led by head coach Jon Scheyer, the Blue Devils posted an impressive 3.35 team GPA for the 2024–25 academic year, proving that Duke’s winning culture thrives in every arena. Even more, five standout Blue Devils — Neal Begovich, Stanley Borden, Mason Gillis, Spencer Hubbard, and Sion James — were named to the NABC Honors Court, cementing their place among the nation’s top scholar-athletes.
The Duke men’s basketball team has earned its third consecutive Academic Excellence Award and five Blue Devils were named to the Academic Honors Court, as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced its academic awards for the 2024-25 season.
Neal Begovich, Stanley Borden, Mason Gillis, Spencer Hubbard and Sion James earned spots on the Honors Court, which recognizes junior, senior and graduate student-athletes who are varsity players and maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the academic year.
To receive the Team Academic Excellence Award, programs must post a team GPA of 3.0 or higher for the academic year. Under head coach Jon Scheyer, the Blue Devils recorded a 3.35 team GPA in 2024-25, with seven student-athletes named to the All-ACC Academic Team: Gillis, James, Cooper Flagg, Caleb Foster, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach and Tyrese Proctor.
The Blue Devils have earned the Team Academic Excellence Award in each of Scheyer’s three seasons as head coach.
Duke was one of 10 ACC institutions honored with the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, joining Clemson, Louisville, NC State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
More than 2,400 student-athletes secured spots on the NABC Honors Court and nearly 400 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2024-25. Each institution must count the GPA of all men’s basketball student-athletes who were listed on the team roster during the previous season. All four-year and two-year colleges with at least one active NABC-member coach are eligible. The NABC’s academic awards recognize teams and athletes from all levels of college basketball.
