FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team had one representative on the 2022-23 Men's Basketball All-Academic Team presented by Barnes & Noble College.
In order to qualify for the GNAC All-Academic Team, student-athletes must be a sophomore athletic eligibility or greater, nominees must be in their second season of competition at their current institution, nominees must have a minimum 3.2 cumulative GPA on a 4.00 scale and nominees must be on the roster for the full season.
Sophomore guard, Tybenn Sturm was the lone-Nanook on the All-Academic Team, earning his first GNAC All-Academic honor after joining the Nanooks at the start of the 2021-22 season. Sturm, who hails from Huntington, W.Va., is a Business major and has maintained a 3.29 GPA in his two seasons with Alaska. "This is a great honor for Tybenn." Said head coach Greg Sparling, "With the acknowledgement from the GNAC, the award shows his efforts in the classroom. He is very focused on finishing his undergraduate and helps our team on the court. He's worked closely with professors here at UAF and excels in the classroom with their help, mentorship and guidance."
A season ago, Sturm played in 25 of 29 games, starting seven of them, posting 2.2 points per game while shooting 44% from the field and adding 1.3 rebounds per game and 13 assists to help the Nanooks win the 2022 GNAC Men's Basketball Championship and advance all the way to the West Regional Finals and Sweet 16. This season, Sturm has played in 16 of 20 competitions and is averaging 3.4 points per game, shooting 57.1% from the floor, 42.9% from three and is grabbing 1.5 rebounds per game while adding 19 assists and five steals.
The Nanooks men's basketball team continues their 2022-23 season tomorrow night, Feb. 9 at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. and Saturday, Feb. 11 at Simon Fraser. Next week the Nanooks will play their final home games of the season with Western Oregon on Thursday, Feb. 16 before wrapping up their home regular-season schedule with Saint Martin's on Saturday, Feb. 18.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.
