TEMPE, Ariz. – The men's tennis team of North Carolina Central earned All-Academic Team status by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) for its excellence in the classroom, representing the highest team grade point average in the country during the 2025 season in Division I men's tennis.

The Maroon & Gray finished the academic year with the highest cumulative team grade point average in NCCU Athletics during 2024-25 at 3.86, well above the 3.2 GPA minimum by ITA. There were 158 other men's teams to achieve this mark.

However, ITA calculates team grade point averages by adding each student-athlete's cumulative GPA and then dividing the total by the number of players on the team. Using this format, NCCU has a 3.88 team GPA, which ITA officials confirmed as the highest by any men's team in the country this year, adding on to the monumental year for the Eagles.   

Aside from the team recognition, all nine Eagles were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. Neiman Sneed, Lucas Artigas, Naresh Bharathy, Leo Fortier-Gariepy, Hugo Hidalgo Vega, Kareem Abdul Hakim, Rodrigo Alves, Antoni Pankowski and Oliver Saarinen finished the season with GPAs over 3.5, meeting the criteria along with 985 other Division I student-athletes.

Follow the links for the full list of ITA All-Academic Teams and Scholar-Athletes.

For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com.