KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Whitworth men's basketball team and eight of its players were recognized by National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for academic excellence during the 2024-25 season.

The men's basketball squad received a NABC Team Academic Excellence Award after achieving a cumulative 3.50 team grade point average during the 2024-25 academic year. To be selected for a NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, teams must complete the academic year with a 3.0 GPA or higher.

In addition, Ben Nyquist, Caden Bateman, Colton Looney, Diego Jaques, Garrett Long, Jake Holtz, Lucas Meissner, and Stephen Behil were each named to the NABC Honors Court. The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior, and graduate student players who finished the year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.

Nyquist, a junior business management major, played in 26 games and started 10 last season. He posted 6.3 points and led the team with 1.6 steals per game.

Bateman, a junior business administration major, averaged 3.6 points in 26 games during his first season as a Pirate.

Looney, a senior finance major, averaged 7.8 points and shot an impressive 52.1% from beyond the arc.

Jaques, a junior finance major, started 15 games for the Pirates before a season ending injury. He averaged 9.9 points and 1.3 steals per game.

Long, a graduate MBA student, started all 26 games for the Bucs at point guard. He finished the season ranked third in the conference in scoring (15.8 ppg), led the Pirates in assists (3.5), and earned first team All-Northwest Conference recognition.

Holtz, also a graduate MBA student, capped his final season as at Whitworth with first team All-NWC recognition and led the team in both points (16.4) and rebounds (6.2) per game. Holtz recently signed a professional contract with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins in Japan.

Meissner, a junior computer science and mathematics major, appeared in 15 games for the Pirates and played 5.2 minutes per contest.

Behil, a junior business management major, started all 26 games and ranked third on the team in both points (11.5) and rebounds (4.9) per game.

Holtz and Looney were honored for the third time. Long is a second time honoree.

Whitworth took home the NWC regular season title after a 13-3 conference record but missed the NCAA DIII Tournament after a NWC tournament semifinal loss. The Pirates will look to get back to the national tournament when the 2025-26 season begins in early November.