Men's Basketball Student-Athletes Earn Academic All-District Honors

BOSTON, Mass. – College Sports Communicators (formerly known as College Sports Information Directors of America) recently released its 2023 Academic All-District® Men's Basketball Teams. These teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.

Wentworth Institute of Technology had five men's basketball student-athletes earn this honor in sophomore Jack Connell (Walpole, Mass.), sophomore Niko Rosich (Chicago, Ill.), senior Jack Schaake (Hampton, N.H.), senior Thomas Hacker (Averill Park, N.Y.), and sophomore Nathaniel Smith (Beacon Falls, Conn.). These four bring the total number of Academic All-District selections for Wentworth since 1995 to 42.

Connell, a Computer Science major, has had a breakout sophomore season for Wentworth, leading the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game, which includes a team-leading 67 three pointers, to go along with 3.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. On 10 occasions this season, he scored 20 or more points, including dropping a career-high 33 in a win at Suffolk on Jan. 28. He also posted career highs of nine rebounds and eight assists in a win over Curry on Feb. 18.

Rosich, an Electromechanical Engineering major, set career highs in points, rebounds, assists, and steals this season, while starting 10 of the 18 games in which he has played. Among his career highs was a seven-rebound performance against Curry on Nov. 30.

The program's all-time leader in field goal percentage (.611), Schaake has had career-best outputs in his senior season, averaging 10.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game while shooting a program-record .653 from the floor. A Mechanical Engineering major, Schaake established new single-game highs in points (18), rebounds (13, and assists (4), while recording a pair of double-doubles.

Hacker has appeared in all 26 of Wentworth's game this season, earning one start. His 3.9 rebounds per game rank him third among his teammates and the Interdisciplinary Engineering major established career bests in assists and steals in games against Plymouth State and Wartburg, respectively.

A Mechanical Engineering major, Smith has started 15 of the 25 games in which he has played this season and has set career bests in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. Among Smith's career highs were eight rebounds against Worcester State on Dec. 16.

Sitting at 17-9, Wentworth, the No. 4 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament, travels to No. 1 seed Nichols for a CCC Semifinal tonight (Feb. 23) at 7:00 p.m.

The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes men's basketball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in mid-March. In order to be eligible for Academic All-District honors, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically, have a minimum of a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, and be a starter or a significant reserve on their team.

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