2025-26 Winter Sport NAIA Scholar-Athletes
SEWARD, Neb. – As announced by the NAIA National Office on Tuesday (Feb. 24), Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball program earned 10 NAIA Scholar-Athlete awards for the 2025-26 academic year. The honor roll includes repeat Scholar-Athletes in Hayden Frank, Garrett Grandgenett, Brooks Kissinger, Zac Kulus, Jace Nelson, Karson Pihl and Brandt Van Dyke.
In order to be nominated by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum cumulative 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.
Now a two-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete, Kissinger (Business Administration) also garnered Academic All-District accolades from College Sports Communicators in 2024-25. A four-year contributor on the court, Zac Kulus has collected three NAIA Scholar-Athlete awards. Head Coach Ben Limback’s ’25-26 team carries a 17-11 overall record into postseason play.
Concordia University, Nebraska ranks as the NAIA’s all-time leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes with 2,739 entering the 2024-25 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.
2025-26 Concordia Men’s Basketball NAIA Scholar-Athletes
• Hayden Frank (Malcolm, Neb.)
• Garrett Grandgenett (Wahoo, Neb.)
• Dane Jacobsen (Ashland, Neb.)
• Brooks Kissinger (Ashland, Neb.)
• Zac Kulus (Bennington, Neb.)
• Jace Nelson (Gordon, Neb.)
• Eli Nordling (Federal Way, Wash.)
• Gage Olsen (Plattsmouth, Neb.)
• Karson Pihl (Lindsborg, Kan.)
• Brandt Van Dyke (Lawton, Iowa)