Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines’ Sam Beskind is the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Academic Player of the Year, the league announced Wednesday. Along with Beskind’s honor, the RMAC also released its 2023-24 Men’s Basketball All-Academic First Team and Academic Honor Roll. RMAC All-Academic rosters are voted on by the league’s 15 sports information directors.

Beskind claims the 2023-24 RMAC Men’s Basketball Academic Player of the Year honor with a 3.88 grade-point average in Advanced Energy Systems/Humanitarian Engineering. On the court, Beskind was a consistent force for the Orediggers, averaging 8.8 points per game on 40% shooting. His scoring output combined with his 6.2 rebounds per game earned Beskind a RMAC Men’s Basketball First Team All-Conference nod. With the help of Beskind, the Orediggers earned the No. 5 overall seed in the South Central Region heading into the 2024 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Seven RMAC institutions are represented on this year’s All-Academic First Team, with Colorado Mesa leading the way with three selections. Chadron State claims two spots on the first team, with both student-athletes boasting 4.0 GPAs. Colorado State University Pueblo, New Mexico Highlands, University of Colorado Colorado Springs and Western Colorado round out the 10-man roster with one position apiece.

2023-24 RMAC MBB Academic Player of the Year: Sam Beskind, Colorado School of Mines