Men’s basketball team, individuals collect academic awards

INDIANOLA, Iowa — The Simpson men's basketball team along with seven individuals earned academic honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2016-17 season. Simpson took home the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award while Sam Amsbaugh, Cody Good, Jamie Montgomery, Cort Singleton, Ryan Skaar, Brook Thompson and Austin Turner were all named to the NABC Honors Court.

NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards
NABC Honors Court

The Team Academic Excellence Award recognizes squads with cumulative grade point averages of 3.0 or better for the 2016-17 season. The Honors Court recognizes individuals who are juniors or seniors on the varsity team, hold a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher at the end of the year and have matriculated at least one year at their current institution. 

The Storm were one of just three Iowa Conference teams to earn the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, achieving a 3.54 GPA for the year. Simpson's seven individuals on the NABC Honors Court tied with Coe for the conference lead.

Amsbaugh is the lone junior to qualify for the honor while Good, Montgomery, Singleton, Skaar, Thompson and Turner were all seniors. The group helped the Storm to a 16-10 record in 2016-17, the program's second consecutive 15-win campaign under head coach Brad Bjorkgren.