KANSAS CITY, MO (July 15, 2026) -- The King's College men's basketball team earned national recognition for its success in the classroom during the 2025-26 academic year, receiving the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award. Additionally, six Monarchs were named to the NABC Honors Court, as Garrett Burys, Matt Christian, Ray Gooley, Jake Karnish, Ben Rodner-Tims, and Darren Yost were recognized for their outstanding academic achievement, the NABC announced Wednesday.
 
The NABC announced its annual academic awards this week, honoring men's basketball programs and student-athletes from all levels of collegiate basketball. King's secured the Team Academic Excellence Award after posting a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher during the 2025-26 academic year.
 
The Monarchs also had six student-athletes earn NABC Honors Court distinction. The honor recognizes junior, senior, and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the academic year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher. Burys, a senior finance and accounting major; Christian, a junior business management major; Gooley, a junior finance major; Karnish, a junior physician assistant major; Rodner-Tims, a junior finance major; and Yost, a senior English major, each met the criteria to earn the national honor.
 
The NABC's academic awards are presented annually to recognize achievement in the classroom by men's basketball teams and individual student-athletes. The Team Academic Excellence Award honors programs that complete the academic year with a team GPA of at least 3.0, while the Honors Court highlights student-athletes who maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.
 
"College basketball student-athletes do incredible things on the court, but their achievements in the classroom are equally worthy of celebration," said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. "Education is one of the NABC's core values, and the hundreds of programs and thousands of athletes represented on these awards reinforce the commitment to academic success that exists across all levels of our sport."
 
Over 2,300 players earned spots on the 2025-26 NABC Honors Court, while more than 400 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards.