Baseball Claims ABCA Team Academic Award
9/2/2020 3:05:00 PM | Baseball
Omaha, Neb. -- The Creighton Baseball squad was one of over 400 college and high school programs from across the country who were awarded the 2019-20 ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) Team Academic Excellence Award. Teams from every level of college and high school baseball were honored with this year's award, which highlights programs coached by ABCA members that posted a GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale for the entire 2019-20 academic year.
The Bluejays closed the 2019-20 academic year with a GPA of 3.14, including a 3.22 in the spring of 2020. Three members of the BIG EAST Conference collected the ABCA Academic honor, with Butler and St. John's joining Creighton.
A record 450 college and high school programs submitted nominations and received this year's award. In total, 147 high school teams along with 303 programs from the NCAA Div. I, II, III, NAIA, and Junior College levels were recognized.
"In light of the challenges faced by so many programs across the country, we are humbled to be able to honor a record number of teams for their outstanding academic achievements," said ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz. "It is a testament to the leadership of our member coaches and the commitment of their student-athletes who persevered during an unprecedented academic year."
Coaches were able to nominate their teams for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award following the conclusion of their spring semesters prior to the nomination deadline of July 17. To be honored, teams had to meet the following criteria:
- Must be a high school or college team
- Head coach must be a current ABCA member
- Team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2019-20 academic year (Due to some schools changing to Pass/Fail grading, spring semester grades were not required to be included in the cumulative calculation).
The American Baseball Coaches Association has a long tradition of recognizing the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams are the nation's oldest, founded in 1949, and the ABCA's awards program also includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Awards, the ABCA/Diamond Regional & National Coaches of the Year and several other major awards such as the ABCA Hall of Fame and the Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award.
NCAA Division I
Abilene Christian University (TX)
Alabama State University
Arkansas State University
Ball State University (IN)
Baylor University (TX)
Boise State University (ID)
Bradley University (IL)
Bryant University (RI)
Butler University (IN)
Campbell University (NC)
Central Michigan University
Coastal Carolina University (SC)
College of the Holy Cross (MA)
College of William & Mary (VA)
Coppin State University (MD)
Creighton University (NE)
Davidson College (NC)
Duke University (NC)
East Carolina University (NC)
Eastern Kentucky University
Florida Atlantic University
Gardner-Webb University (NC)
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Tech
Harvard University (MA)
Hofstra University (NY)
Indiana State University
Lafayette College (PA)
Long Island University (NY)
Longwood University (VA)
McNeese State University (LA)
Mercer University (GA)
Michigan State University
Monmouth University (NJ)
North Carolina Central University
North Dakota State University
Northeastern University (MA)
Northern Illinois University
Ohio State University
Oklahoma State University
Old Dominion University (VA)
Oregon State University
Presbyterian College (SC)
Radford University (VA)
Saint Louis University (MO)
Saint Joseph's University (PA)
Samford University (AL)
Seattle University (WA)
Southeast Missouri State University
St. John's University (NY)
The Citadel (SC)
Tulane University (LA)
UNC Greensboro
UNC Wilmington
University of Alabama - Birmingham
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Cincinnati (OH)
University of Hartford (CT)
University of Illinois
University of Kentucky
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisville (KY)
University of Memphis (TN)
University of Missouri
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame (IN)
University of Portland (OR)
University of San Francisco (CA)
University of South Florida
University of The Incarnate Word (TX)
UNLV
Valparaiso University (IN)
Western Michigan University
Wichita State University (KS)
Winthrop University (NC)
Wright State University (OH)
Youngstown State University (OH)
