Kansas City, Mo. - The 2016 BIG EAST champion Seton Hall men's basketball team has been recognized as a recipient of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award for boasting a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better during the 2015-16 season.

The Pirates, one of only two BIG EAST men's basketball teams to receive this year's award, finished 2015-16 with a GPA of 3.084 and boasts an overall cumulative GPA of 3.032. They are also only one of only eight teams to receive this award and participate in the 2016 NCAA Div. I Tournament.

Head coach Kevin Willard has long preached academic excellence for his program, and by recruiting talented student-athletes, the team has responded with unprecedented success in the classroom. The Pirates have generated 29 BIG EAST Academic All-Star selections in Willard's tenure. Becoming a BIG EAST Academic All-Star requires posting a 3.0 GPA during the entire academic year.

In addition, the team has generated a perfect single-year academic progress rate (APR) of 1000 in four of the last five NCAA reports, and The Hall's 2014-15 multi-year APR of a perfect 1000 is 36 points above the NCAA Div. I national average of 964. The Hall was one of only 18 schools to score 1000 in the APR this year and was the recipient of the NCAA Public Recognition Award for a second straight year.

2015-16 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards

Albion College
Alma College
American University
Anderson University (IN)
Augustana University
Austin College
Azusa Pacific University
Belmont University
Beloit College
Bethune-Cookman University
Bradley University
Brandeis University
Briar Cliff University
Butler University
California Maritime Academy
Caldwell University
Caltech
Carleton College
Carnegie Mellon University
Castleton University
Chaminade University of Honolulu
University of Chicago
Coe College
Colorado Christian University
Colorado College
Concordia College
Concordia University (WI)
Crown College
Dallas Baptist University
Denison University
University of Denver
Dominican University (IL)
Duke University
D'Youville College
Eastern Washington University
Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University (AZ)
Emory University
Emory & Henry College
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairmont State University
University of Findlay
Florida Southern College
Fort Lewis College
Freed-Hardeman University
Gettysburg College
Harvard University
Hendrix College
The College of the Holy Cross
Holy Cross College
Hood College
Illinois College
Illinois Wesleyan University
University of the Incarnate Word
Johns Hopkins University
Juniata College
Kenyon College
LaGrange College
Lake Forest College
Lawrence University
LeTourneau University
Lewis & Clark College
Lewis University
Lindenwood University
University of Louisville
Macalester College
Maryville University
Midland University
University of Minnesota Duluth
Missouri Baptist University
Molloy College
University of Montana
College of Mount Saint Vincent
University of Nebraska Omaha
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Newberry College
University of New Mexico
North Dakota State University
Northwestern University
Northwestern State University
University of Northwestern (MN)
University of Oklahoma
Oklahoma Christian University
University of the Ozarks
Pace University
Pacific Lutheran University
Penn State Behrend
Piedmont College
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Principia College
Quinnipiac University
Rice University
University of Rochester
Rockford University
Rockhurst University
Rollins College
Saint John's University (MN)
Saint Xavier University
College of St. Scholastica
Salve Regina University
Sarah Lawrence College
Seton Hall University
University of South Carolina
South Dakota School of Mines
Southern Connecticut State University
Southwestern College
Southwestern University
Springfield College
St. Edward's University
Susquehanna University
Texas Lutheran University
University of Toledo
Trinity University
Union College
Utah Valley University
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Washington University in St. Louis
Waynesburg University
Webster University
West Texas A&M University
Wheaton College (IL)
Whitworth University
Willamette University
UW-Eau Claire
UW-Milwaukee
UW-Parkside
UW-River Falls
UW-Stevens Point
Yale University