Wooster earned the NABC's Team Academic Excellence Award for the second straight year, while four Scots qualified for the NABC Honors Court.

2020-21 NABC Honors Court | 2020-21 NABC Team Academic Excellence Award

Four members of The College of Wooster men's basketball team are part of this year's prestigious National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court, while the Fighting Scots earned the organization's Team Academic Excellence Award for the second straight year, as announced over the last two days. Wooster's latest Honors Court members are juniors Hamilton Johnson, Khaylen Mahdi, Tayler McNeal, and Brandon Styers.

Johnson, a communication studies and philosophy major, earned an expanded role this winter. He averaged 8.2 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, and connected on nearly 60 percent (16-of-27) of his field goals. Johnson factored heavily into head coach Doug Cline's first official win with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting during a 106-101 win over Wabash College.

Mahdi, a tenacious defender, missed this season with injury. The business economics major started 20 games as a sophomore, and he averaged 2.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. Mahdi's signature outing came as a first-year when he scored a career-high 16 points during Wooster's 91-89 win over Allegheny College in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

McNeal, a transfer from NCAA Div. II Urbana University, played in all seven games and led the team in scoring at 16.7 points per night. He officially debuted with 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting against DePauw University, and followed that up with 22 points and five assists the following day against the Tigers. In exhibition action, McNeal helped author the ending of the latest instant classic against archrival Wittenberg University with five points, a blocked shot, and the assist on the go-ahead bucket – all in the final minute of Wooster's 81-78 win.

Styers, a first-team D3hoops.com All-Great Lakes Region selection, was one of the most improved players in the NCAC, evidenced by averaging career-highs in points (16.6 per game) and rebounds (6.3 per game). Styers shot a lights-out 67.2 percent (41-of-61) from the floor, which included a 12-of-20 mark from range. He was also near-automatic at the charity stripe, finishing the year 22-for-24. Styers ranked sixth nationally in field-goal percentage and third among guards. The biology major poured in a career-high 30 points in Wooster's win over Wabash, a game in which he went 12-of-14 from the floor.

Wooster, the winningest NCAA Div. III team of the 2000s, posted a collective GPA north of 3.0 in each semester during the 2020-21 academic year.

NABC Honors Court membership is extended to those who are a junior or senior academically, a varsity player, have at least a 3.2 GPA, and whose coach is a full-time NABC member. The NABC Team Academic Excellence Award goes to programs achieving at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA for the team for the previous season, and whose coach is a full-time NABC member.