Six Eastern Washington University men’s basketball players – the most in the Big Sky Conference – have been honored on the 2017-18 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court announced on July 17.
Graduated forward Bogdan Bliznyuk is a repeat winner, and joined fellow senior Benas Griciunas on the squad. The remainder were underclassmen — Cody Benzel, Ty Gibson, Jesse Hunt and Grant Gibb.
“We are very proud of all of those players,” said Eagle head coach Shantay Legans. “To lead the league in the number of selections receiving this honor is a tribute to the hard work our players put into being true student-athletes, and the emphasis our program, athletic department and university put towards academics.”
The six selections were the most EWU has had a single season, bettering the four the Eagles had in the 2014-15 school year. Of the 22 selections in school history, 20 of them have come in the last six seasons starting in 2012-13. Besides Bliznyuk, repeat winners have included Venky Jois, Tyler Harvey, Daniel Hill and Julian Harrell.
Currently playing professional basketball in the NBA and abroad, Bliznyuk is a from Lutsk, Ukraine, and graduated in 2014 from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash. He received his degree in marketing from EWU with a 3.25 grade point average.
Griciunas played one season for Eastern as a graduate transfer, and had a 3.99 GPA at EWU while pursuing his master’s degree in business administration. He is from Lithuania, and transferred to EWU from UNC Charlotte and had previously played at Auburn.
Benzel, Gibson and Hunt will all return for their senior seasons in 2018-19. Benzel is a 2014 graduate of Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash., and has a 3.21 GPA as a marketing major. Gibson is majoring in professional accounting, and has a 3.99 GPA at EWU after graduating from Issaquah (Wash.) HS in 2015. Hunt has a 3.65 GPA as a management major, and is formerly from Australia and graduated from Sir Francis Drake High School in California in 2015.
Gibb is no longer in the program, but had a 3.60 GPA at Eastern while majoring in marketing. He graduated from Mark Morris High School in Longview, Wash., in 2015.
The Honors Court recognizes those men’s collegiate basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the past season. The NABC Honors Court recognizes the talents and gifts that these men possess off the court and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom. To qualify, the recipients must have junior or senior standing academically, and have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2017-18 academic year. They must have also matriculated at least one year at their current institution.
Earlier, the Eastern men’s basketball team was honored for the fifth-straight year with the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award announced July 11. That award was won by 184 colleges and universities for having a team cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and above for the 2017-18 season.
Eastern, Gonzaga and Seattle were the only NCAA Division I schools in the state of Washington to be honored, and were joined by Seattle Pacific from NCAA Division II. Eastern, Idaho State and Sacramento State were the only Big Sky Conference schools to be recognized.
EWU Players Selected to the NABC Honors Court
2008-09 Andy Genao, Benny Valentine
2012-13 Jordan Hickert, Kevin Winford
2013-14 Tyler Harvey, Daniel Hill, Martin Seiferth
2014-15 Tyler Harvey, Daniel Hill,
Venky Jois, Fred Jorg
2015-16 Julian Harrell, Venky Jois
2016-17 Bogdan Bliznyuk, Julian Harrell, Mario Soto
2017-18 Cody Benzel, Bogdan Bliznyuk, Grant Gibb,
Ty Gibson, Benas Gricinuas, Jesse Hunt
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