GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The American Baseball Coaches Association is proud to honor nearly 300 member college and high school programs with the 2018 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, and two Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference teams were recognized.
Schreiner University and Texas Lutheran University were the two SCAC programs on the list, alongside 75 other NCAA Division III teams.
Teams from every level of college and high school baseball were honored with the award, which recognizes teams coached by ABCA members that posted a GPA over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the 2017-18 academic year.
"We are thrilled to be able to honor all of this year's Team Academic Excellence Award recipients," said ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz. "It is a privilege for our association to have the opportunity to highlight so many deserving teams and recognize all of the hard work they put in off the field throughout the year."
A record number of teams were recognized with the 2017-18 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award. In total, 292 college and high school programs received this year's award, including 94 high school programs and 77 teams from NCAA Div. III.
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 7. 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 2017-18 academic year. GPA may not be rounded up.
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 Ethics in Coaching Award.