PASADENA, CA – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) has announced their 2012-13 academic honorees. The Caltech men's basketball squad earned team honors while seven student-athletes were recognized for their individual success in the classroom.

"It's tremendous that more than half of the players on our team are honored this year." said head coach Oliver Eslinger, who is entering his sixth season with the squad. "That they represent Caltech as true student athletes across three separate classes is indicative of our program's balance."

There were 97 teams that were honored with the organization's inaugural team academic excellence award. In order to earn the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, an institution must count the grade point averages of all men's student-athletes competing during the 2012-13 season. The combined GPA must be at least 3.0 while playing in NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Division I and II.

The Beavers compiled a 3.36 team GPA as they were one of three SCIAC teams to receive the recognition. Chapman and Occidental were the other school within the conference to get honored.

In addition to the team accolade, Ethan Boroson, Arjun Chandar, Andrew Hogue, Bryan Joel, Mike Paluchniak, Alex Runkel, and Pan Wang were all named to the NABC 2012-2013 Honors Court.  For Boroson, Chandar, Runkel and Wang it is the second year they received the honor.

In order to be named to the Honors Court, an athlete must meet a high standard of academic criteria. The qualifications are as follows:

1.      Academically a junior or senior and a varsity player
2.      Cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2012-2013 academic year
3.      Students must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution
4.      Member of an NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA institution

Caltech was one of just 11 schools who had seven (or more) players garner Honors Court accolades.