Five Northwestern men's basketball players carried cumulative GPAs of 3.2 or higher during the 2025-26 season, earning spots on the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court.

Nick Martinelli, Blake Smith, Gus Hurlburt, Jordan Clayton, and Justin Mullins received the recognition, the program announced Thursday, July 16. The Wildcats also picked up the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, given to programs that maintain a team GPA of 3.0 or higher across the full academic year.

The NABC announced both honors Tuesday, July 15, from Kansas City. More than 2,300 players nationwide landed on the Honors Court, and over 400 programs earned the team award, according to the organization's official release. NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson said in the release that achievements in the classroom are "equally worthy of celebration" alongside on-court performance.

Martinelli, the 6-foot-7 senior forward from Glenbrook South, headlined the group. He averaged 23.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game for a team that finished 15-19 overall and 5-15 in Big Ten play under head coach Chris Collins. Off the court, Martinelli earned back-to-back First Team Academic All-American honors and the Big Ten Medal of Honor, which recognizes the top student-athlete in each conference school's graduating class. The Clippers selected him 55th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft in June and signed him to a two-way contract.

The other four honorees all met the threshold of junior standing or above with at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA. Clayton, a junior guard from Medford, Mass., appeared in 31 games with 10 starts. Mullins, a senior guard from Oak Park who attended Oak Park-River Forest High School, and Smith, a senior guard from Blue Bell, Pa., who played at Germantown Academy, also made the list. Hurlburt, a 6-foot-9 senior forward from Enderlin, N.D., rounded out the five.

The academic haul caps a year in which all seven eligible Wildcats earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, according to the program's March 17 announcement. Northwestern Athletics also reported a school-record 148 student-athletes received Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recognition for 2025-26.

With Martinelli now in the NBA and several seniors departing, Collins' program will carry a different roster into 2026-27. The five Honors Court selections mark the academic standard those newcomers will be measured against.