KANSAS CITY, MO- The Juniata men's basketball team is one of 132 colleges and universities around the country to receive the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award. This is the fourth year that these awards have been given out and the third straight year that the Eagles have been bestowed with this honor.

The award is given to NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA Division I and II teams that achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better for the 2015-16 season.

Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game.

The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.

The full list of recipients can be view here.