KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The McDaniel College men's basketball team was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) on Wednesday as a recipient of the 2025-26 NABC Team Academic Excellence Award.
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Award recognizes men's basketball programs that completed the 2025-26 academic year with a team grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. This season marks the second time the Green Terror have received the award since it was first awarded in 2012-13.
In addition, seniors
Kevin Connelly,
David Kearney, and
Matt Kearney as well as junior
Bruce Black were named to the NABC Honors Court.
The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior and graduate students who finished the 2025-26 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.
Connelly graduated on May 23 with a bachelor's degree in Marketing and a minor in Entrepreneurship and a 3.775 GPA. He is a two-time NABC Honors Court and three-time Centennial Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll selection. This season, he was limited to 12 games and one start due to injury after playing in 26 of the team's 27 games a year ago with 25 starts.
David Kearney graduated with a 3.237 GPA in Business Administration. He is also a two-time NABC Honors Court selection. This season, he led the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.8 points and 6.6 rebounds, both career highs, while totaling 12 games with at least 20 points, including a season-high 29 against Baruch on Dec. 29, 2025. He was named to the All-Centennial Conference First Team and became the 20th player in program history to score 1,000 career points versus Rutgers-Camden on March 7, 2026.
Matt Kearney graduated with a 3.762 GPA in Biology. He is a two-time NABC Honors Court and three-time Centennial Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll selection. This season, he averaged 7.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 19.4 minutes played, all career highs. He played in 26 games for the second consecutive season while making his first two career starts and finishing second on the team in free throw percentage at 81.0 percent.
Black returns for his final season with a 3.350 GPA in Business Administration. In his first season with the Green Terror after transferring from Rosemont, he was third on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 11.0 points and 4.6 rebounds. He played in all 27 of the team's games while making 24 starts and finishing second on the team with 25 steals.
