ABCA

Baseball Brian Oakley

Northwest Baseball Collects ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Northwest Mississippi Community College has earned another national academic honor for one of its athletic programs, as the Ranger baseball program has been recognized as a recipient of the American Baseball Coaches Association's (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award for the 2019-20 academic year.

Under 16th-year head coach Mark Carson, the Rangers posted a 3.41 GPA in the classroom and finished 14-1 in a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. Northwest was ranked No. 8 in the final NJCAA Division II poll prior to the cancellation of the remaining season schedule.

In order to be considered for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, a team must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2019-20 academic year. Northwest was one of only 26 junior college programs to receive this year's honor, including fellow Region 23 opponents Jones College, LSU Eunice, Northeast and Southwest Mississippi.

A record number of teams were recognized with the 2019-20 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award. In total, 427 college and high school programs received this year's award, including 143 high school teams along with 284 college programs across the NCAA, NAIA and junior college levels.

"In light of the challenges faced by so many programs across the country, we are humbled to be able to honor a record number of teams for their outstanding academic achievements," said ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz. "It is a testament to the leadership of our member coaches and the commitment of their student-athletes who persevered during an unprecedented academic year."

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 Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award.