New Mexico Junior College earns fourth straight NABC academic award

New Mexico Junior College's men's basketball program earned the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award for the 2025-26 season, extending a run that now covers four straight years. The Thunderbirds were one of only 10 NJCAA programs to receive the honor, which the National Association of Basketball Coaches announced July 15 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The NABC gives the Team Academic Excellence Award to men's basketball programs that finish the academic year with a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher, and NMJC cleared that mark over 10 straight semesters. Thirteen student-athletes finished above a 3.0 GPA, a number that showed the program kept its classroom standard in place while rosters changed around it. NMJC's athletics site published the award release the same day the honor was announced.

The recognition also added to a recent stretch for the program in Hobbs, where the Thunderbirds had already collected an NABC team award in the 2024-25 cycle. NMJC men's basketball posted the news on social media, and the program highlighted six players in the academic honor announcement: Colby Burleson, Jaxen Potter, Jake Bluestein, Kamau Franks, Terrell McCoy and Brad Saint Louis. Luke Mackay is listed by the program as the head men's basketball coach on social media, and the team's official X account has about 8,638 followers, giving the academic milestone a public stamp that matched the results behind it.