Kansas City, MO--The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) has announced the 2015-2016 NABC Honors Court, recognizing those men's collegiate basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the past season, with a record number of 1,000 student-athletes from more than 350 colleges and universities. Sage placed two student-athletes on the list this year as junior guard Alex Lilac (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls) and senior guard Dan Schilde (Sharon Springs, NY/Sharon Springs Central) were honored. The selection for Lilac is a repeat honor after also earning acclaim in 2014-2015.
Lilac, who is a physical education major and a member of the Gators' first Skyline Conference championship team that also earned the program's first NCAA Division III Tournament berth in 2014-2015. This past season, he guided the Gators back to the league's tournament and performed in all 26 contests with one start and has now played for Sage in 41 career contests. He is a two-time Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete honoree as well as a two-time Sage Scholar-Athlete Honoree and was named to Sage's Athletic Honor Society as well this spring.
After helping the Gators the past season as the manager, Schilde turned in his pencil and scorebook for a uniform this year and joined the Gator lineup mid-season. He assisted the team with a return to the conference tournament and is a law and society major at Sage and was also placed on the 2015-2016 Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete team.
"Our coaching staff and Gator family are so proud of both Alex and Dan," remarked head men's basketball coach Brian Barnes. He added, "Being selected to the NABC Honors Court is a tremendous accomplishment and is a credit to the hard work both have put in throughout their academic careers."
"Dan was a valuable team member this season and I am so happy that I had the privilege to coach him. Dan served as our team manager for a season and a half and traded in his scorekeeping pencils for a Sage game uniform second semester. We are forever grateful for his sacrifice and service to our program," added Barnes.
"Alex has been a pleasure to coach and is really stepping into his own as a leader in our program," added Barnes. "He is an extremely dependable and hard-working young man who is a great ambassador for our program. Alex is a shining example of a true student-athlete and our coaching staff is excited to be able to coach him again this fall.
In order to be named to the Honors Court, a student-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 grade point average (GPA) of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2015-16 academic year.
3. Students must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution.
4. Member of a NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Division I or II institution with a NABC member coach.