We are entering another year of our annual Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) extending their mission to recognize more than just athletic prowess on the basketball court. The IBCA is continuing a program to recognize the academic achievements of the basketball teams across the state of Illinois with their Academic All-State Team Award for the 2023-24 Season. This past fall, we were able to recognize our top academic teams of each legislative district at the annual basketball coach’s clinic on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. Please take the time to consider your team’s qualification for recognition in this academic year.
Every school whose girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball team meets a minimum standard of a cumulative, non-weighted 3.0 Grade Point Average, on a 4.0 scale, through the first semester of the current school year may submit a roster form for consideration. The individual G.P.A. to be used for each student-athlete will be their cumulative G.P.A. as of the end of the first semester of the current school year (i.e. a senior would have 7 semesters accumulated, a junior 5, a sophomore 3, and a freshman 1.) The form will be available on the IBCA website, www.ibcaillinois.org. under the “HONORS” tab by clicking “ALL STATE ACADEMIC TEAMS.” For schools that use a 5.0 scale, they are required to drop the G.P.A. by “one point” prior to submission. Deadline for submission to Tom McGunnigal (coachgunny@sbcglobal.net) should be by Tuesday, March 1, 2024.
The Award will be a competition amongst schools within each of their Illinois High School Association Legislative Districts. The state of Illinois has seven (7) legislative districts. The IBCA will award the Top Three schools with the highest G.P.A. from each Legislative District for both boys’ and girls’ basketball. The basketball team with the highest G.P.A. in each Legislative District will be announced at the IBCA Hall of Fame banquet in May and a plaque will be presented at the Coach’s Clinic in September. The second and third place teams will be announced at the banquet and will receive a certificate in the mail from the IBCA in recognition of the team accomplishment. All schools meeting the minimum 3.0 will be listed on the IBCA website in recognition of their achievement.
The IBCA felt that the inception of the Award would send a clear message that we want to go beyond athletic accomplishments in recognizing the abilities of our incredible student-athletes in the state. We believe the Academic All-State Team Award is a proper recognition of the pursuits of educational success engrained in the schools and students of Illinois. We want all to know how much we value the efforts in the classroom above the efforts on the hardwood.
Please CLICK HERE to download the nomination form
Nominations are due on Tuesday, March 1st, 2024
Forms:
Academic All-State Letter
Academic All-State Nomination Form
Academic All-State Criteria