Men’s Basketball Earns NABC Team Academic, Five Rams Tabbed Honors Court

NABC TEAM ACADEMIC RELEASE | NABC HONORS COURT 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Suffolk men's basketball and four Rams were acknowledged by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for academic excellence. The blue-and-gold picked up the Team Academic Excellence Award, while Declan Davis, Greg Keane, Harrison Neil, Connor Strickland and Nick Verdile garnered NABC Honors Court recognition, the national organization unveiled.  

It is the third consecutive campaign that both the Suffolk squad and individuals were granted the respective distinctions.  

The team award, which was created by the NABC Committee on academics has honored institutions in the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA for academic achievements over the last decade with the Rams appearing on the list nine of the last 10 seasons. All of Suffolk's distinctions have come under Jeff Juron's guidance.  

The blue-and-gold, who earned its first NABC Team Academic Excellence Award distinction in 2016-17, is one of over 400 programs overall to earn the feat for 2025-26 and one of three Conference of New England (CNE) teams to grab the nod this year along with Roger Williams and Western New England.  

The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players who wrapped up the 2025-26 academic year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher. 

Strickland is the lone Ram to repeat as an honoree after earning the recognition a year ago, while Davis, Keane, Neil and Verdile picked up the feat for the first time in their careers. It is the third time in Suffolk's history that four players earned the nod in the same season, first since 2024-25.  

Suffolk is one of three CNE programs represented on the 2025-26 NABC Honors Court list as Roger Williams and WNE saw a half dozen players apiece. Overall, 2,300 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court.  

NABC has been honoring student-athletes academic achievements with the Honor Court since the 2006-07 season. Suffolk's first nods came in 2008-09. Since Juron took over the program a decade ago in 2015-16, 28 Rams have combined for 39 NABC Honor Court awards. Overall, the blue-and-gold has seen 31 student-athletes grab 43 NABC Honors Court accolades.