COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Nine freshmen from the Western Michigan hockey program have been honored by the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, earning a spot on the 2020-21 NCHC Academic All-Conference Team. 

Trevor Bishop (4.0, business), Aidan Fulp (4.0, exercise science), Ty Glover (3.74, sport management), Luke Grainger (3.71, finance), Chad Hillebrand (3.78, business), Daniel Hilsendager (3.83, business), Cam Knuble (3.43, business), Hugh Larkin (3.38, finance), and Jarred White (3.89, aerospace engineering) earned the honors for the first time in their careers. Bishop, Fulp, Glover, Grainger, Hillebrand, Hilsendager and White were all named NCHC Distinguished Scholars for having a GPA of 3.50 or higher.  

To be eligible for the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team, a student-athlete must compile a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average (or better) and have completed a full academic year at their current institution. Similarly, for NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, a student-athlete must attain a 3.5 cumulative GPA or better with a full year of academic studies. Freshmen and first-year transfers were not eligible when the honors were first announced in early March, as they had not completed a full academic year, but with the 2020-21 academic calendar complete, the newcomers are now eligible to earn NCHC academic honors. Athletic success and playing time are not criteria for these awards.

The addition of WMU's nine freshmen pushes the Broncos total to 24 on the 2020-21 NCHC Academic All-Conference team, the second-most in the conference. Western Michigan freshmen Jacob Bauer, Ross Hawryluk, Matteo Pecchia and Tim Washe also met the GPA requirement but were not eligible for the award this year due to joining the team in December after the end of the fall semester.