FOUR SAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYERS NAMED TO NABC'S HONORS COURT: SAGE TEAM ALSO HONORED
National Association of Basketball Coaches Announces 2021-2022 Honors Court NABC Recognizes Outstanding Academic Achievement
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) today announced the 2021-2022 NABC Honors Court, recognizing those men's collegiate basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the past season. The NABC Honors Court recognizes the talents and gifts that these men possess off the court and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom. The NABC encourages you to share the success of these student-athletes using #NABCHonorsCourt. In order to be named to the Honors Court, a student-athlete must meet a high standard of academic criteria.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) also announced the 2021-2022 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards, recognizing those men's collegiate basketball student-athletes and teams that have excelled in academics during the past season. Sage men's team was also honored with a Team Excellence Award for the third straight academic year. This marks the fourth time Sage's men's basketball team has garnered the award, all coming under the guidance of head coach Brian Barnes.
Honored from the Gator men's basketball team are seniors Ryan Long (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park), Jason Geronimo (Orlando, FL/Colonial), and Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School) as well as graduate student Josh Gonzalez. (Albany, NY/Canajoharie). Phair and Geronimo are business administration majors at Sage, while Long is a physical education major at Sage and Gonzalez is pursuing his masters in business administration at Sage.
Head coach Brian Barnes noted, "Our coaching staff couldn't be more proud of the academic achievement, dedication and leadership shown by Jason, Stuart, Ryan and Josh during this challenging time." Barnes, continued, "All four have shown great commitment towards our five core values; Growth Mindset, Positivity, Togetherness, Dependability and Caring. Today, we congratulate them and celebrate their selection to the NABC Honors Court. Congratulations!"
Phair took home three awards at the Sage Department of Athletics Annual Awards banquet and in the process became the very first Sage male student-athlete to earn Gator of the Year honors in two different sports, while also being honored as the Dean Robinson Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Boasting a 3.829 GPA at Sage as a business administration major, Phair was also honored with his second consecutive selection to Sage's Athletic Honor Society at the banquet.
Phair was honored as an Empire 8 Third Team All-Conference pick as a senior in men's basketball. A team co-captain, he averaged 10.1 points on 49.2 percent shooting and 7.2 rebounds. He also finished his time as a Gator sitting second in program records with 110 career blocks. He added two double-doubles this past season, including when he tallied 21 points on 52.9 percent shooting and 12 boards in the win vs. Keuka on January 21 and was named the Empire 8 Player of the Week.
Gonzalez, who was also saluted in 2019-2020 as a member of the NABCA Honors Court, is a Sage Scholar-Athlete as well as a two-time honoree in the Sage Athletic Honor Society.
Long, who earned a spot on the 2021-2022 Empire 8 All-Sportsmen Team, was named to the Sage Scholar-Athlete Team this year, while also earning acclaim as a member of the Empire 8 Presidents' List.
Geronimo, who served as the 2021-2022 Sage Men's Basketball Team Captain, had his senior season cut short by an injury. He caps his time at Sage having also earned acclaim as a member of the Empire 8 Presidents' List, Sage's Athletic Honor Society and the Sage Scholar-Athlete Team multiple times and earned two selections to the NABC Honors Court, while also finishing ninth all-time with his 381 career rebounds with 34 starts in 64 games played.
Russell Sage College's men's basketball team was also named the recipient of the 2021-2022 Sam Schoenfield Sportsmanship Award by the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association. Head Coach Brian Barnes, who guided the Gators to the Empire 8 tournament once again in 2021-2022, owns a career record of 167-153 having led the program since its inception. Sage has earned post-season bids in 10 of the team's 13 seasons, while riding a streak of three consecutive post-season bids after this year's selection to the Empire 8 tournament.
Sage has now had 22 players honored by the NABC.
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 2021-22 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.