KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For a fifth consecutive season, the Tusculum University men’s basketball program has been named a recipient of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award. Six TU student-athletes have also been named to the NABC Honors Court.
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Award recognizes men’s basketball programs that completed the 2024-25 academic year with a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior and graduate student men’s basketball players who finished the 2024-25 season with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better.
Earning NABC Honors Court recognition are: Bryce Jackson, Josiah Morris, Ryan Neal, Jackson Owens, Zak Perdew and Michael Richerson.
Tusculum accounted for a 3.178 cumulative team GPA and was one of 19 sports teams at the University to boast a 3.00 team average. TU is one of four South Atlantic Conference men’s basketball programs recognized.
“Education is one of the NABC’s five core values, and we are proud to recognize the academic accomplishments of these programs and individual student-athletes across our sport,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. “The dedication and hard work of these athletes, along with their coaches and support staff members who prioritize academic success, deserves to be widely celebrated.”
Jackson, a native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, completed his Bachelor of Science degree in just three years, graduating with summa cum laude honors while majoring in sport management and finished with a 3.98 cumulative grade point average. He is a member of the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, President’s List, Dean’s List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List.
Jackson earned All-SAC third team honors this past season where he led the Pioneers in scoring averaging 18.6 points per game, which ranked sixth in the conference and 61st in the country. He started in all 28 games where he scored in double figures on 25 occasions including 12 times with 20 or more points and two outings with 30-plus points. He scored a career-best 35 points against Limestone University where he tied the school single-game record with 28 field goal attempts.
Defensively, Jackson was listed amongst the conference leaders in steals, averaging 1.75 per game which ranked him fourth in the SAC. He also led the team in minutes played (33.33 mpg – 10th in SAC), field goals made (176 – 9th in SAC), field goal attempts (401, 4th in SAC), free throws made (130 – 5th in SAC), free throw attempts (171 – 5th in SAC), total steals (49 – 8th in SAC) and total points (520 – 9th in SAC). He also averaged 5.6 rebounds per game and shot 76 percent from the free throw line.
Jackson was named to the 2025 NCAA Division II Academic All-America Men’s Basketball third team as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC). In 2024, he was the recipient of the SAC Men’s Basketball Elite 23 Award and the Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award.
Morris, a junior from Mt. Washington, Kentucky, has a 3.60 GPA while majoring in sport science and returns to the NABC Honors Court for a second straight year. He is a member of the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Dean’s List, Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. He is also a 2025 recipient of the D2ADA Academic Achievement Award.
Morris played in a dozen games with seven starts where he totaled 45 points (3.8 ppg), 33 rebounds (2.8 rpg) and 15 assists (1.3 apg). He also lettered on the Tusculum men’s golf team.
Neal, a junior guard from Knoxville, Tennessee, has a 3.67 GPA and is majoring in sport science and is a 2025 D2ADA Academic Achievement Award recipient. He is a member of the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Dean’s List, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.
Neal is averaging 2.5 points and 0.6 rebounds per game. He has played in 17 games with one start while totaling 42 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
Owens, a junior forward from Prosperity, South Carolina, has a 3.53 GPA with a double major in accounting and management. He is a member of the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, Dean’s List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List.
He played in 22 games with one start where he averaged 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. Shot 46.9 percent from the field and totaled 34 points, 39 rebounds, 10 assists and nine steals.
Perdew, a graduate student from Louisville, Kentucky, earns Honors Court distinction for a third consecutive year. The North Greenville University transfer garnered the accolade twice while at the Tigerville, South Carolina school. He has a 3.96 GPA in his graduate studies in business administration. He is a member of the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll. While at NGU he was a member of the Conference Carolinas Academic Team and a 8-time Dean’s List honoree.
Richerson, junior from Louisville, Kentucky, has 3.21 GPA and is majoring in business. He is a member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll. He played in nine games last year on the Tusculum hardwood.
Over 2,400 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court and nearly 400 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for this year.
