DENVER - Chicago State and Sacramento State have been honored as recipients of the 2015-16 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, which honors high school and college programs that posted a GPA over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the academic year, have been announced. Over 140 high school and college programs were recognized with the inaugural award.
The Cougars and Hornets were two of just 29 NCAA Division I programs to earn recognition.
"We are extremely proud to recognize the academic accomplishments of so many of our member coaches' programs this year," said ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz. "This award highlights our coaches' commitment to developing student-athletes that excel both on and off the field, and we're proud of these student-athletes for their success in the classroom."
In order to qualify for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, programs must meet the following criteria:
- Must be a high school or college team
- Team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2015-16 academic year
- Head coach must be a current ABCA member
The American Baseball Coaches Association has a long tradition of recognizing the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams are the nation's oldest, founded in 1949, and the ABCA's awards program also includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Awards, the ABCA/Diamond Regional & National Coaches of the Year and several other major awards such as the ABCA Hall of Fame and the ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award.
ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award Recipients