Men's Basketball places 11 on Scholar-Athlete list for second most nationally

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 20, 2024 in Men's Basketball

2023-24 NAIA Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athletes

SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Men’s Basketball program finished just off the national lead for most 2023-24 Daktronics NAIA-Scholar-Athletes. A group of 11 Bulldogs landed on the list announced by the NAIA on Wednesday (March 20). Seven of the award winners are repeat NAIA Scholar-Athletes, including seniors Joel Baker and Trey Scheef.

The 2023-24 list of men’s basketball honorees features 572 total student-athletes. In order to be nominated by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, must appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport and have attended one full year at said institution.

The full list of Scholar-Athletes from the men’s basketball program can be found below. The team’s multiple-time NAIA Scholar-Athletes are Joel Baker, Bradley Bennett, Riley Hoetelker, Josh Puelz, Trey Scheef, Tristan Smith and Casey Stegeman. Bennett and Smith were also named 2022-23 Academic All-District honorees by College Sports Communicators.

Concordia University ranks as the NAIA’s all-time leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes with 2,322 entering the 2023-24 academic year. The school record for number of Scholar-Athletes in one academic year is 226 achieved in 2019-20. Concordia has been a regular national leader for both Scholar-Athletes and Scholar-Teams.

2023-24 Men’s Basketball NAIA Scholar-Athletes

·        Joel Baker (Alliance, Neb.)

·        Bradley Bennett (Elkhorn, Neb.)

·        Aaron Brost (Waterloo, Iowa)

·        Riley Hoetfelker (Hooper, Neb.)

·        Zac Kulus (Bennington, Neb.)

·        Josh Puelz (Lincoln, Neb.)

·        Trey Scheef (Wahoo, Neb.)

·        Noah Schutte (Laurel, Neb.)

·        Tristan Smith (Elizabeth, Colo.)

·        Casey Stegeman (Arlington, S.D.)

·        Jaxon Weyand (Crete, Neb.)