Dayton’s Santos, Napier named to NABC Honors Court

University of Dayton men's basketball players Nate Santos and CJ Napier were both named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) 2023-24 NABC Honors Court this month.

The NABC Honors Court was created to recognize academic achievement at all levels of men's college basketball. To be named to the Honors Court, a student-athlete must be a junior or senior and maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or better.

Santos was Third Team All-Atlantic 10, Academic All-A-10 and Academic All-District this season. He was the 2024 winner of UD's Chris Daniels Memorial Most Improved Player Award. Santos started all 33 Flyers games in 2023-24. He was UD's second-leading scorer (11.7) and rebounder (6.3) in 2023-24. A transfer from Pitt, he averaged 1.6 points, 1.2 rebounds and 7.3 minutes per contest in 29 games the year before. He is a communications major.

Napier is an MBA graduate student who joined the team as a walk-on after starting 73 of 75 games played at Ohio Northern University. He averaged 17.1 points a game and scored 1,279 points in his career at ONU and was a four-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference selection. This year for the Flyers, he played in five games, scored five points and grabbed three rebounds. He was a member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and is now a graduate assistant with the UD men's basketball program.
 
"The NABC is proud to celebrate these accomplished student-athletes, along with the coaches and staff who champion success in the classroom," said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. "Education is a core value of the NABC, and the teams and athletes who earned these awards are proof that academic achievement remains a priority across every level of our sport."

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