2022-23 NABC Honors Court

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After helping Academy of Art men's basketball to its second consecutive record-breaking season, junior Latrell Williams, graduate student Will Balata, and sophomore Jamal Fuller were rewarded for their hard work in the classroom with selections to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court.

"I am really proud of the academic performance of Latrell, Will, and Jamal," Head Coach Scott Waterman said. "One of the pillars of our program is excellence both on and off the court, and this is a prime example of that."

For a student-athlete to earn a spot on the NABC Honors Court they must be of upperclassmen standing (junior, senior, or graduate student), as well as finish the 2022-23 academic year with above a 3.2 cumulative grade point average.

Latrell Williams
Alongside posting a 3.28 cumulative GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies, Williams continued to post some of the program's best rebounding numbers to date in 2022-23. The Gary, Ind. native averaged 7.2 rebounds per game, registering nine or more rebounds in nine contests including 19 boards which is third-most in a single game in ART U history with 19 versus Hawaii Pacific on Jan. 24. His 229 total rebounds were the second-best mark of his career (set program record with 252 last season) and the third-most by an Urban Knight in a season. Williams added 10.3 points per game, leading him to five double-doubles for 16 in his career (second in Academy of Art history), as well as 1.5 steals per contest (sixth in PacWest) which helped him earn PacWest Defender of the Week once as well (Jan. 30).

After his first Academic All-PacWest Team selection to date last month, this is the first NABC Honors Court award for Williams in his career.

Will Balata
Making an immediate impact in just his first season with Academy of Art, Balata worked toward a 3.37 cumulative GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies after averaging 12.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 steals per game en route being named to the All-PacWest Third Team. Playing in 29 contests with 12 starts, Balata was the top scorer on ART U this season (19th in the PacWest), reaching double-digit points a total of 18 times that included a 25-point performance against UH Hilo on Jan. 12, which was the most points in a game by an Urban Knight this campaign. Helping contribute on the glass, his 6.3 rebounds per game ranked eighth in the PacWest and helped him to produce three double-doubles.

Balata made it pair of academic honors, Academic All-PacWest Team and NABC Honors Court, in his debut season with Academy of Art.

Jamal Fuller
In his first year competing for Academy of Art, Fuller proved to be a vital member of the rotation as another of the team's five players to average double figures in scoring while adding a 3.46 cumulative GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies. The Toronto native posted double-digit points in 20 of his 32 games played including each of the final 10 contests which included four in the postseason. Fuller turned in the fourth-highest shooting percentage in an ART U season after he made 58.1 percent (132-for-227) of his attempts, ending with team-high 76 free throws made.

Fuller concludes his debut season as an Urban Knight with his first career Academic All-PacWest Team and NABC Honors Court selections to date.

Williams, Balata, and Fuller were three of over 2,000 players to earn a spot on the NABC Honors Court in 2022-23. They represent the first trio for ART U since the 2019-20 season following the record of four Knights who initially collected Honors Court positions to help the program earn its first Team Academic Excellence Award in 2018-19.