Regis Men’s Basketball Earns NABC Academic Honors
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Regis College men's basketball team has received the 2023-24 Team Academic Excellence Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), with three members of the team selected to the 2023-24 NABC Honors Court, as announced by the national organization Monday, July 15.
The NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards recognize men's basketball programs that completed the 2023-24 academic year with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the 2023-24 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.
Graduate student Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) ended up fourth on the Regis career made three-pointer list with 160 career three-pointers as he started all 27 games for the Pride, averaging 8.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. In the GNAC Tournament first round game against Dean Feb. 19, he shot 8-for-9 from the field, including 5-for-6 from behind the three-point line, for a career-high 22 points. Latifi, the 2023-24 Regis SAAC E-Board President, is pursuing his MBA and master's degree in strategic communications.
Rising senior Tate Pike (Bellingham, Mass.) was one of the first players off the bench for the Pride as he appeared in all 27 games in 2023-24, averaging 14.2 minutes, 3.8 points, and 1.6 rebounds per game. In Regis' five-point victory over New England College Jan. 30, he contributed nine points and three rebounds in 20 minutes on the floor. Majoring in business, Pike is a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection as well as a two-time Academic All-GNAC honoree.
Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) became the seventh player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career, accomplishing the feat in his 71st career game, quicker than anyone else at Regis. Currently fifth on the Pride career scoring list with 1,093 points, Rau set the single-season scoring (470) and rebounding (283) records in 2023-24 as he earned Second Team All-GNAC recognition. About to welcome Regis' incoming class of students as an Orientation Leader, Rau is majoring in business.
In total, over 2,100 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court and over 360 programs received NABC Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2023-24. The NABC's academic awards recognize teams and athletes from all levels of college basketball.
Regis College sponsors 19 intercollegiate sports, including men's basketball, within NCAA Division III as a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.