LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Wesleyan men's basketball team's academic performance during the 2025-26 school year was recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches who named the Prairie Wolves as a recipient of the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award on Wednesday.

Additionally, four NWU players were selected to the NABC Honors Court, a group which includes Seth Newton, Kason Simpson, Payson Gillespie, and Gabe Christian.

The NABC Team Academic Excellence Award recognizes programs that completed the 2025-26 academic year with a team grade-point-average of 3.0 or higher. The NABC Honors Court, meanwhile, includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the 2025-26 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.

Newton started all 25 games in which he appeared for Nebraska Wesleyan this season and averaged 8.8 points, 2.5 assists, 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game while shooting career-best marks from the field (.445) and 3-point range (.378).

Simpson saw action in 25 games and averaged a career-high 2.9 points her game, shooting 50.0 percent from the field.

Gillespie appeared in 20 games on the season and averaged 2.9 points per game.

Christian was a key member of the junior varsity roster in 2025-26.