Twelve Bulldogs named men's basketball NAIA Scholar-Athletes

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 9, 2023 in Men's Basketball

2022-23 NAIA Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athletes

SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Men’s Basketball program finished two honorees off the national lead for most 2022-23 Daktronics NAIA-Scholar-Athletes. A group of 12 Bulldogs landed on the list announced by the NAIA on Thursday (March 9). Seven of the award winners are repeat NAIA Scholar-Athletes, including four-time Scholar-Athlete Gage Smith.

The 2022-23 list of men’s basketball honorees features 542 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. In addition to Gage Smith, other multiple-time NAIA Scholar-Athletes are Joel Baker, Tice Jenkins, Trey Scheef, Garrett Seagren, Casey Stegeman and Skyler Woita. Bennett and the Smith brothers were also named 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 2,121 entering the 2022-23 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.

2022-23 Men’s Basketball NAIA Scholar-Athletes

·        Joel Baker (Alliance, Neb.)

·        Bradley Bennett (Elkhorn, Neb.)

·        Riley Hoetfelker (Hooper, Neb.)

·        Tice Jenkins (Lincoln, Neb.)

·        Josh Puelz (Lincoln, Neb.)

·        Trey Scheef (Wahoo, Neb.)

·        Garrett Seagren (Oakland, Neb.)

·        Gage Smith (Elizabeth, Colo.)

·        Tristan Smith (Elizabeth, Colo.)

·        Casey Stegeman (Arlington, S.D.)

·        Braedon Thompson (Sioux Falls, S.D.)

·        Skyler Woita (Wahoo, Neb.)