ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team and four players were recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for their outstanding academic achievement during the 2019-20 season. The NABC announced the eighth annual Team Excellence Awards and the Honors Court to highlight more than 1,350 men's collegiate basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the past season.

These awards recognize outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2019-20 season. In order to earn a NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, institutions in the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA must count the grade point averages of all men's student-athletes who competed during the 2019-20 season.

Senior Brandon Thorsen (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park), and juniors Derrick Clark (Erie, PA/Central Tech), Kenny Fukon (Cranberry Township, PA/Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic) and Nolan Nuara (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) were honored for their talents and gifts they possess on the court and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom. In order to be named to the Honors Court, a student-athlete must academically be a junior or senior and a varsity player, obtain a GPA of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2019-20 academic year and must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution while being a member of a NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Division I or II institution with a NABC member coach.