KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) announced its initial Academic Honor Roll this afternoon. Western Michigan had 15 players on the list, including 11 Distinguished Scholar Athletes. The Broncos had the second most players in the conference on the Honor Roll and the third most Distinguished Scholar-Athletes.

To be eligible for the NCHC Honor Roll, a student-athlete must compile a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average or better, while having completed at least one full academic year at his current institution. Student-athletes that have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better are honored as NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, in addition to Honor Roll recognition.

Zach Bade, Cole Crusberg-Roseen, Grady Gallatin, Ryan Kusler, Kirk Laursen, Owen Michaels, Zach Nehring, Zack Sharp, Samuel Sjolund, Grant Slukynsky, Hampton Slukynsky, Garrett Szydlowski, Joona Väisänen, Liam Valente and Zaccharya Wisdom were all named to the NCHC Honor Roll. Bade, Crusberg-Roseen, Laursen, Michaels, Nehring, Sjolund, G. Slukynsky, H. Slukynsky, Szydlowski, Valente and Wisdom were all Distinguished Scholar-Athletes.

While freshmen and inter-conference first-year transfers, including graduate transfers, are not currently eligible for the NCHC Honor Roll or Distinguished Scholar-Athlete recognition (due to not having a full year at their current school), those freshmen and transfers that achieve a cumulative 3.0 GPA or better at the conclusion of the 2025-26 academic year will be added to the NCHC Honor Roll over the summer. Similarly, any freshmen or first-year transfers who compile a 3.5 GPA or better will be named an NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete.