BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Western Washington University men's basketball student-athletes Trey Drechsel, Taylor Stafford and Evan Scholten have been recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as members of the 2016-17 Honors Court.

Drechsel (Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian), Stafford (Chicago, IL/Eastern Arizona), Scholten (Bothell, WA/Cedar Park Christian) met the criteria set by the NABC to be a junior or senior varsity player with a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2016-17 academic year. The student-athlete must also have been enrolled for at least one year at their current institution and be a member of a team with a NABC member coach.

The Vikings finished with a cumulative 3.10 GPA for the 2016-17 academic year, tied for third-best among Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams, to earn the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award. The program recognizes institutions that had a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better for the 2016-17 season.

Drechsel (Business Administration), Stafford (Multidisciplinary Studies) and Scholten (Human Services/French) were also members of the 2016-17 GNAC Men's Basketball All-Academic team, with Scholten being named to the team for the second time in his career.

WWU opens the 2017-18 season Nov. 10-11 hosting Hawai'i-Hilo, Notre Dame de Namur and Simon Fraser in the PacWest/GNAC Conference Challenge on WECU Court at Carver Gym. The Vikings are coming off a 25-6 campaign in 2016-17, winning both the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title and conference tournament.