KALAMAZOO, Mich. – For their performance in the classroom, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has added 91 freshmen and first-year transfers to the 2024-25 NCHC Academic All-Conference Team after having completed a full academic year at their current school. Among the 91 newcomers, 68 were also tabbed NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes for their strong academic achievement this past season.

Of those honorees, Western Michigan had 12 on the list, with seven earning Distinguished Scholar Athlete honors. Zach Bade (Distinguished Scholar Athlete), Connor Brown (Distinguished Scholar Athlete) Grady Gallatin (Distinguished Scholar Athlete), Iiro Hakkarainen (Academic All-NCHC), Brian Kramer (Distinguished Scholar Athlete), Ryan Kusler (Academic All-NCHC), Zach Nehring (Distinguished Scholar Athlete), Zack Sharp (Academic All-NCHC), Grant Slukynsky (Distinguished Scholar Athlete), Hampton Slukynsky (Distinguished Scholar Athlete), Joona Vaisanen (Academic All-NCHC) and Liam Valente (Academic All-NCHC), were the additions for the Brown and Gold. 

With the 12 additions, the Broncos moved up to 25 Academic All-NCHC honorees for the season. Of those 25, 18 were named Distinguished Scholar Athletes. WMU had the third highest percentage of Distinguished Scholar Athletes in the league, with 72 percent of the team's honorees getting that recognition. Additionally, Western Michigan's 25 honorees are the most by the program since the 2021-22 campaign.