Johnson is the first Stonehill men's basketball player to be named to the NABC Honors Court three times. (PHOTO BY Jim Pierce) |
Skyhawks receive Team Academic Excellence Award for fourth-straight year
Six named to NABC Honors Court for classroom efforts
NABC Announces Academic Award Recipients
EASTON, Mass. (July 25, 2023) – The Stonehill College men's basketball team has received the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award for the fourth-straight year for having a team grade point average of 3.0 or better and placed six of its upperclassmen on the NABC's Honors Court, the coaches' association has announced.
Stonehill's six Honors Court representatives is just one shy of the program best of seven in 2021 and give the Skyhawks 20 Honors Court members over the last five years. Stonehill is among two Northeast Conference members with representation on the Honors Court with Saint Francis (Pa.) University featuring two and join Merrimack College in earning the Team Academic Excellence Award.
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards, created by the NABC Committee on Academics, recognizes outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2022-23 season. To earn an NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, institutions in the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA must count the grade point averages of all men's student-athletes who competed during the 2022-23 season. The NABC Honors Court recognizes NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA student-athletes of basketball programs led by NABC member coaches for their work in the classroom. To be named to the Honors Court, a student-athlete must meet a high standard of academic criteria of being in their junior or senior year academically on the men's basketball team with a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the academic year.
Stonehill's six Honors Court members include recent graduates Shamir Johnson, a program-first three-time Honors Court member, and Isaiah Burnett, a two-time member of the Honors Court, as well as fellow fifth-year graduate Josh Mack, postgrad Max Zegarowski and juniors Helio Souza Erazo and John O'Reilly III, who have all been named to the Honors Court for the first time in their career.
Johnson |
Burnett |
Mack |
Zegarowski |
O'Reilly III |
Sousa Erazo |
Johnson, who graduated in May with a Bachelor's Degree as a business management major with a 3.25 cumulative grade points average, is the first Stonehill men's basketball student-athlete to earn a spot on the NABC Honors Court three years. He was named to the NEC Academic Honor Roll for the winter season and earned Stonehill's Fr. Jack McCarthy Leadership Award at the athletic department's annual awards night after receiving the Ken LeGrice Community Service Award as a junior in 2021 for his role in elevating the conversation for racial justice on the campus by establishing One Hill and leading the Athletics Task Force to Address Racial Injustice. Johnson was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Academic Honor Roll seven semesters, with Academic Distinction status for having a semester GPA between 3.50 and 3.99, while being named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester enrolled at the College, and has received the Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award. Johnson started five of Stonehill's 31 games in its inaugural NCAA Division I season and finished tenth among NEC leaders for three-point field goal percentage (.375) and eighth for three-point field goals per game (1.8), while finishing fourth in the team in scoring with 7.6 points per game on 39.4-percent shooting from the field overall, and 2.9 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per game.
Burnett, an All-NEC second team selection last winter, is a two-time NABC Honors Court member that graduated in May with a Bachelor's Degree as an economics and psychology dual major, earning a 3.35 GPA. He was also named to the NEC Academic Honor Roll last winter after being named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll all five semesters since transferring to Stonehill from the U.S. Naval Academy prior to the College's transition to NCAA Division I status. Burnett received the Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award and been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll each semester. He started all 31 games of the Skyhawks inaugural NCAA Division I season and finished second in the NEC and third nationally with his 2.84 steals per game, while ranking third on the team with 12.2 points per game (13th NEC), on 42.6-percent shooting from the field, while connecting on 79.5% of his free-throws (4th) to go with a team-high 4.6 rebounds (12th) and 2.7 assists (10th) in 31.8 minutes per game (11th). Burnett set program records for steals in a season (82) and game (7 vs. Saint Francis Brooklyn, 2/4), while being named the NEC Player of the Week once and an NEC Prime Performer seven weeks.
Mack graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in May as a finance and communication dual major with a 3.25 GPA to earn a spot on the NABC Honors Court for the first time. He was named to the NEC Academic Honor Roll this winter, collected NE10 Academic Honor Roll status each semester prior to the College's transition to Division I status and Athletic Director's Honor Roll each semester. Mack was the men's basketball team's representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, active with the College's Financial Management Association and member of the Black Student Union. He appeared in 29 games during the Skyhawks inaugural Division I season, starting two, and was fifth on the team with 6.3 points per game on 50.4-percent shooting, including 40.7% from three-point range, shooting 70% from the free-throw line, adding 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 22.9 minutes per game.
Burnett is a two-time NABC Honors Court member after earning All-NEC second team honors this winter (PHOTO BY Brian Foley) |
Zegarowski has earned a 3.73 GPA while enrolled in Stonehill's Integrated Marketing Communications Master's program. The All-NEC third team selection was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® team this winter, as well as the NEC Academic Honor Roll. The transfer from former fellow NE10 member Franklin Pierce University was named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll and was a three-time NEC Prime Performer this past season. He started all 31 games for Stonehill in its inaugural Division I season this past winter and led the NEC in free-throw shooting (.877), while ranking third in three-point percentage (.419), second in three-point field goals per game (2.3), 12th in scoring (12.6/gm), seventh in field goal percentage (.454), while also contributing 4.2 rebounds (17th NEC) and 1.2 assists in a team-high 33.7 minutes per game (2nd). Zegarowski will enter his final collegiate season at Stonehill having surpassed the 1,000-point plateau with 1,075 points over his 91 career games played.
O'Reilly, a history major with a 3.78 GPA at Stonehill, also earns a spot on the NABC Honors Court for the first time. He received the St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medal for having the highest cumulative GPA on the team this spring and was named to the NEC Commissioner's Honor Roll and NEC Academic Honor Roll over the winter. O'Reilly earned a spot on the NE10 Academic Honor Roll all four semesters prior to the College's Division I transition, with Academic Distinction status for having a semester GPA between 3.50 and 3.99, while also being named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll all six semesters at the College to date. He has appeared in seven games over his three-year Stonehill career, netting a career-high seven points in the Skyhawks win over Eastern Nazarene College last November.
Sousa Erazo, a finance major with a 3.59 GPA at Stonehill, rounds out Stonehill's NABC Honors Court members as a first-time honoree as well. He was named to the NEC Academic Honor Roll this winter after appearing in two games in his first season as a member of the Skyhawks.
Stonehill, picked ninth in the NEC preseason coaches' poll, turned in a second-place finish in the Conference's final regular season standings in its first NCAA Division I season, starting its four-year transition period on July 1, 2022. The Skyhawks featured three All-NEC selections in their first year in the Conference, while head coach Chris Kraus, '06 earned the NEC's Jim Phelan Coach of the Year Award and fifth-year Andrew Sims, '23 collected NABC All-District honors. Stonehill finished with a 14-17 record overall, including 10-6 in the NEC to finish second in the Conference standings. The Skyhawks faced three teams that competed in March Madness, including National Champion University of Connecticut and FDU, splitting the regular season series with the Knights, and another earning a bid to the NIT.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
