Three Programs Earn BIG EAST Team Excellence Award

NEW YORK – Three Seton Hall teams have earned BIG EAST Academic Team Excellence awards, as announced by the conference on Wednesday (Aug. 7). Men's basketball, men's soccer and volleyball all earned the prestigious academic honor, awarded for having the highest collective grade-point averages in each conference sport.

With three teams selected, Seton Hall is tied for the third-most certificates of any school in the conference. The winners were chosen based on the 2018-19 grade-point average of each student-athlete who appeared on an institution's roster as of the last contest of the championship segment in each conference-sponsored sport.

Men's basketball collects its laurel after posting a 3.207 team GPA. As a team, the Pirates were also recipients of the NABC's sixth annual Team Academic Excellence Award. Seton Hall was one of only 40 Div. I programs to receive this year's award, and one of only 10 Div. I programs to both receive this award and earn a 2019 NCAA Tournament bid. Michael Nzei (Makurdi, Nigeria) was the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year and earned the men's basketball Sport Excellence Award. Both Romaro Gill (St. Thomas, Jamaica) and Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) were named to the 2018-19 NABC Honors Court.

Men's soccer earns the award with a 3.481 team GPA, highest among all men's programs at Seton Hall. The squad swept Seton Hall's individual academic awards this year, with CJ Tibbling (Jarna, Sweden), Andreas Nota (Rome, Italy), Steven Catudal (Berlin, Germany) and Peyton Elder (Cary, N.C.) earning The Hall's Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in their respective classes. In addition, David Arvidsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) earned the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete award.

Volleyball notches a certificate after posting a 3.617 team GPA in 2018-19. Sophia Coffey (Sierra Madre, Calif.) was the recipient of the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete award and as a team the Pirates earned the AVCA Team Academic Award.