The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Norton Named to Conference USA All-Academic Team
3/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DALLAS, Texas – UAB sophomore guard Nick Norton was one of five student-athletes selected to the 2015-16 Conference USA All-Academic Team, it was announced Friday by the league office.
Norton, who owns a 3.68 cumulative GPA in finance, joins Jon Elmore (Marshall), Austin Loop (Marshall), Trey Freeman (Old Dominion) and Dominic Artis (UTEP) on the five-man team. Norton also joins Reggie Huffman (2008) and George Drake (2010) as the only three Blazers in school history to earn C-USA All-Academic Team accolades.
“I’ve always worked very hard to be successful in the classroom, so it’s an incredible honor to be recognized as a member of this team,” Norton said.
On the court, Norton has served as one of the league’s top point guards this season, leading UAB to its first Conference USA regular-season championship since 2011. The Bloomington, Ill., native has also played a fundamental role in helping the Blazers to school records in overall wins (25), C-USA wins (15), road wins (9) and consecutive wins (14) this season.
Norton enters the final game of the regular season Saturday at Florida Atlantic third in the conference with 5.2 assists per game and has collected the most single-season assists (151) by a Blazer since the 2010-11 season. In addition, Norton is 15 helpers shy of moving into 10th place on UAB’s all-time single-season list. Earlier this season, Norton dished out 10 assists in wins at Troy (Nov. 19) and against USC Upstate (Dec. 16), helping him rank first in the league and 22nd in the NCAA with a 3.21 assist/turnover ratio.
Norton also ranks fourth in the conference with 1.6 steals per game, 11th with 1.9 three-point field goals made per game and 13th in three-point field goal percentage by shooting 39.0 percent from beyond the arc.
“Nick has exemplified the characteristics of an all-conference performer in the classroom, on the court and in the community this year,” UAB head coach Jerod Haase said.
In addition to excelling in the classroom and on the court, Norton is also active throughout the university. In fact, Norton serves as the UAB SAAC vice president and logged over 20 hours of community service during the 2015 fall semester. Norton is also a three-time member of the Commissioners Honor Roll and was a C-USA Academic Media recipient in 2015.
“Nick’s work ethic and commitment to helping others through his involvement with SAAC are inspiring to me, “Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development Justin Mackey said. “He continues to be a great leader in our department.”
The Conference USA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are set to return to Birmingham for the second consecutive year, marking the third time the Blazers will host the event. The men’s tournament, as well as the women’s semifinals and championship, will be played at Legacy Arena in downtown Birmingham, while the women’s first-round and quarterfinal action will take place at UAB’s Bartow Arena.
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