MINNEAPOLIS -- Five Augsburg University men's basketball student-athletes earned National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court recognition for excellence in academics during the 2025-26 school year, it was announced this week. Earning the honor was Elias Batala (JR, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS), Trent Gomez (JR, Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors HS), Julien Hussherr (SR, Strasbourg, Alsace, France/Episcopal Saint Etienne HS), Aidan Jacobson (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) and Keenan Rodriguez (JR, Ramsey, Minn./Anoka HS). Hussherr earned the honor for the second straight year, with the remaining four earning the honor for the first time.

Established in 2007, the NABC Honors Court spotlights outstanding academic achievement by basketball student-athletes with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of each academic year. Student-athletes must be a junior or senior varsity player academically, and have matriculated at least one year at their current NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA institution. More than 2,300 players earned the honor this year. Auggies have earned 64 NABC Honors Court honors since the 2006-07 season.

In addition, Augsburg also earned the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award for the 2024-25 school year, its ninth honor in program history, with a team cumulative GPA of 3.17. Nearly 400 programs across all NCAA and NAIA divisions received the award for having a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or better during the 2024-25 school year.

A biology major with a 3.34 GPA, Batala earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors this season, the first all-conference honor of his career. In his second year as a starting guard, Batala had a career-best campaign in 2025-26, averaging 14.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per-game, contributing 49 assists, 31 steals and a team-leading 21 blocked shots. He connected on 50.6 percent of his field-goal attempts (135-of-267), with nine three-pointers, while hitting 74.4 percent of his free throws (116-of-156). He scored in double figures in 22 of his 27 games this season, with 10 games scoring 20 points or more and one point-rebound double-double. In 78 career games (50 starts) as an Auggie, Batala has scored 885 points (11.3 ppg) with 251 rebounds (3.2 rpg), 112 assists, 89 steals and 31 blocked shots.

An exercise science major with a 3.65 GPA, Gomez is a two-time Academic All-MIAC honoree. A guard, Gomez played in 23 games in 2025-26, averaging 6.4 points and 1.3 rebounds per-game in 17.9 minutes played per-game. He tied for the team lead with 37 three-pointers this season. In his 74-game career (33 starts, 21.6 minutes per-game), Gomez has scored 558 points (7.5 per-game) with 167 rebounds (2.3 per-game), with 82 assists and 101 three-pointers.

A business major with a 3.69 GPA, Hussherr earned Academic All-MIAC and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors this season. Playing in all 27 games (four starts) for the Auggies this season, Hussherr averaged 3.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in 16.3 minutes played per-game as a point guard. He connected on 18 three-pointers this season, and added 39 assists and 13 steals. Hussherr played two seasons for the Auggies after spending his first two seasons at Illinois Wesleyan University. He played in 53 Auggie games (29 starts) in his career, averaging 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 20.5 minutes played per-game, with 106 assists and 30 steals. He connected on 35 three-pointers in his career.

An exercise science major with a 3.60 GPA, Jacobson is a two-time Academic All-MIAC honoree. A guard, Jacobson played in 11 games this season, scoring nine points with a rebound and assist. Jacobson has played in 19 varsity games in his Auggie career, scoring 15 points with four rebounds, an assist and a steal.

A computer science and mathematics major with a 3.22 GPA, Rodriguez started 23 of 27 games this season at guard, averaging 5.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per-game, with 28 three-pointers, 27 assists and 17 steals. He scored in double figures in four games this season. In 59 career games (23 starts) as an Auggie, Rodriguez has scored 246 points (4.2 per-game) with 83 rebounds (1.4 per-game), adding 73 assists, 28 steals and 39 three-pointers.

Under 21st-year head coach Aaron Griess, Augsburg finished 17-10 overall and 9-7 in MIAC play in 2025-26, earning a spot in the MIAC playoffs for the 11th time in the last 13 full seasons.