BYU Roundup: Cougar men’s basketball earns classroom achievement
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- BYU head coach Kevin Young talks with guard Richie Saunders during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Abilene Christian, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Provo, Utah. (Jeffrey D. Allred, AP Photo)
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- Taylor Lovell waves to her supporting fans after winning the NCAA 3,000 meter steeplechase championship. June 13, 2026. (Courtesy BYU Photo)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NABC has announced the recipients of the 2025-26 NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards and NABC Honors Court, representing achievement in the classroom by men’s college basketball teams and individual players.
The NBAC Team Academic Excellence Awards recognize programs that completed the 2025-26 academic year with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior or graduate student men’s basketball players who finished with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.
“College basketball student-athletes do incredible things on the court, but their achievements in the classroom are equally worthy celebration,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. “Education is one of the NABC’s core values, and the hundreds of programs and thousands of athletes represented on these awards reinforce the commitment to academic success that exists across all levels of our sport.”
The Cougars earn the NABC Team Academic Excellence for a fourth straight season after going 23-12 in 2025-26 and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for a 33rd time in program history. They were one of six schools from the Big 12 to earn the honor.
Richie Saunders and Dawson Baker were named to the NABC Honors Court. Saunders earns the honor a second time as the 32nd pick in the 2026 NBA Draft finished his four-year career in Provo with the 17th most points in program history, 1,544, while ranking eighth all-time in 3-point field goals made and attempts. Baker appeared in six games for the Cougars in 2025-26, averaging 7.5 points per game before suffering a season-ending injury against Miami.
Over 2,300 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court and over 400 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2025-26.
Lovell, Hutchins tabbed for academic awards
Taylor Lovell has been named a College Sports Communicators (CSC) First Team Academic All-American while teammate Jenna Hutchins has earned CSC Second Team Academic All-American honors following the 2025-26 season, the organization announced Wednesday.
To qualify, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, must hold a GPA of at least 3.50 and rank in the top 50 at the 2026 NCAA Regionals or in a Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) regional event. Relay marks may support but not determine eligibility.
Lovell earned First Team honors after winning the 3000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA National Championships in a personal-best 9:21.03, becoming BYU’s first outdoor national champion since Courtney Wayment in 2022. The Gilbert, Ariz. product also won the Big 12 title in the event. Additionally, Lovell clocked the fourth-fastest 5000m time in BYU history at the Stanford Invitational, finishing in 15:15.46. An exercise and wellness major, Lovell holds a 3.60 GPA.
For the second-straight season, Jenna Hutchins earned CSC Second Team Academic All-American honors. The senior’s indoor season was highlighted by anchoring the Cougars to the Big 12 distance medley relay title and earning Second Team All-American honors at the indoor NCAA National Championships, where she clocked a 9:13.35 in the 3000m. The Johnson City, Tenn. native then capped her BYU track career with a third-place finish at the outdoor Big 12 Championships before earning First Team All-American honors in the 10,000m at the outdoor NCAA National Championships. Hutchins is a communication disorders major who boasts a 3.96 GPA.
Shelley, Harvey qualify for US Amateur
SALT LAKE CITY — Former BYU golfer Tyson Shelley and incoming freshman Drake Harvey qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship on Monday after finishing in the top four at a final qualifying tournament at The Country Club.
Shelley opened with an early bogey to move to 1 over through two holes, but birdies on holes six and eight put him at 1 under after the front nine. After birdies on Nos. 12 and 14, the former Cougar carded an eagle on hole 17. Shelley’s 5-under 66 was the lowest score of the event, earning him medalist honors and his third U.S. Amateur appearance.
A recent addition to the BYU men’s golf team, Harvey carded a 3-under 68 to finish third in the qualifying round. He recorded birdies on holes three, nine, 13, 14 and 16, but back-to-back bogeys on the final two holes dropped him back to 3-under par. Harvey, a four-time high school state champion, said he was proud of his performance while remaining confident he can improve moving forward.
“Qualifying for the U.S. Amateur is cool because of how stacked the Utah qualifying fields are,” Harvey said. “They are full of college players and my future teammates, so going out there not having my A-game and still qualifying gives me more confidence going into the U.S. Amateur.”
Five other Cougars competed in the event. Peter Kim shot a 2-under 69 to tie for fourth before falling in a playoff for the final qualifying spot. Kim will serve as the first alternate for the U.S. Amateur Championship.
Returning sophomore Jackson Mauss shot a 1-under 70 and was named the second alternate. Sophomores Parker Bunn and David Liechty carded rounds of 2-over 73 and a 3-over 74, respectively.
South Africa native Angus Klintworth rounded out the group of Cougars at the event, posting a 4-over 75.
Shelley and Harvey will join standout sophomore Kihei Akina, who earned an exemption as the 11th-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, at the U.S. Amateur Championship Aug. 10-16 at Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club in Pennsylvania.
