Western Wayne Today

The Wayne State University baseball team has received the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Team Academic Excellence Award, presented by Sports Attack, for the 2025 season. The Warriors achieved a team grade point average of 3.662 during the 2024-25 academic year and have now earned this recognition for ten consecutive years since its introduction in 2016.

A total of 440 college programs and nearly 300 high school teams were recognized this year for their academic performance.

"The 2024-2025 academic calendar year was a tremendous experience for our baseball program," said head coach Ryan Kelley. "Every college baseball season delivers a journey full of peaks and valleys, and we were entrenched with adversity, success, challenges, and triumphs that we continue to build from. I applaud our baseball student-athletes for staying disciplined and consistent with their academic routines. Our in-season semester team GPA was potentially the highest in our 85-season history! A true credit to our students by striving to meet academic expectations head on and hungry to deliver amazing results. I would like to extend a genuine and sincere thank you to our student-athletes for their commitment. Additionally, a special thanks to WSU Athletics Academic Advisor Kim Clexton for her unparalleled leadership and resource support. Further, thank you to the several faculty and staff across our great campus for providing an amazing academic experience during our student-athletes' journey toward graduation."

To qualify for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award, teams must be high school or college programs with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the relevant academic year. The head coach is also required to be an active ABCA member.

The American Baseball Coaches Association recognizes achievements in coaching and academics through several awards programs such as the ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams—established in 1949—and other honors including regional coaches of the year awards and its Hall of Fame induction.

Founded in 1945, the ABCA serves as the main professional body for amateur baseball coaches across nine divisions spanning NCAA levels I through III as well as NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School, Youth, and Travel teams.

Sports Attack has been involved in sports equipment manufacturing since its founding in Reno in 1995 by partners experienced with early wheel machines used in baseball training equipment.