Johnson, Stong Named to 2022 NABC Honors Court

LOS ANGELES – UCLA men's basketball student-athletes Myles Johnson and Russell Stong have been named to the 2021-22 NABC Honors Court, as announced by the National Association of Basketball Coaches on Tuesday morning.
 
Johnson, who is pursuing his graduate degree in electrical engineering, enrolled at UCLA last summer and spent his fifth and final season of college basketball with the Bruins in 2021-22. Stong, who intends to double major, completed his fourth season with UCLA in 2021-22 and will return as a fifth-year senior this fall.
 
The NABC will annually recognize men's basketball student-athletes who excelled in their academic pursuits over the past school year. The NABC Honors Court highlights the talents that these student-athletes possess off the court and the hard work they have exhibited in the classroom.
  
Student-athletes must meet several academic criteria in order to be included on the NABC's annual "Honors Court." An individual must have compiled a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.2 or higher. Only juniors or seniors on the varsity team are eligible. In addition, students must have been enrolled at that institution for at least one year.
 
This marks the third year in which Johnson has been named to the NABC Honors Court. While studying as an undergraduate at Rutgers University (New Jersey), Johnson was recognized on the NABC Honors Court in 2019-20 and in 2020-21. Stong was named to the NABC Honors Court as a junior at UCLA in 2020-21.
 
Johnson concluded his collegiate career having played in 125 total games – 90 at Rutgers and 35 last season at UCLA. He averaged 3.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 35 contests for the Bruins in 2021-22. Johnson earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors, along with teammates Jaylen Clark and Jaime Jaquez Jr. He was one of two players on UCLA's team to have played in all 35 games (along with Jules Bernard). He graduated with his degree in electrical and computer engineering from Rutgers in May 2021.
 
Stong played in 12 games as a senior last season. He has been named to the Pac-12 Conference's Winter Academic Honors Roll in each of the past three seasons – 2020, 2021 and 2022. Last month, Stong was named to UCLA's year-end All-Academic Team for the third straight season. The All-Academic Team is comprised of the individual from each UCLA athletic team with the highest cumulative GPA. He continues to pursue a double major in mechanical engineering and business economics.
 
About the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men's basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today's student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. For additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, go to www.nabc.org.