KANSAS CITY, Mo. (July 17, 2025) – The NABC has announced the recipients of the 2024-25 NABC Honors Court, representing achievement in the classroom by men's college basketball teams and individual players. Three members of The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball team secured spots on the NABC Honors Court. Earning the recognition were DJ Armstrong, Bryceson Burns and Kyle Whippen.

The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the 2024-25 year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher. The NABC's academic awards are presented annually to teams and athletes from all levels of college basketball.

A management major, DJ Armstrong was named Third-Team All-Lone Star Conference as a senior after starting in all 28 games and averaging 12.3 points per game. He shot 117-of-269 (43.5 percent) from the field, 74-of-202 (36.6 percent) from three and 36-of-39 (92.3 percent) from the free throw line, led the team in both made 3-pointers and in free throw percentage, and was third in scoring (344 total points). He also ranked first on the team and in the conference in minutes played (1,052), and was seventh nationally in minutes per game. In the conference, he ranked third in made 3-pointers per game (2.6). He made three or more 3-pointers in game 12 times, made six or more 3-pointers in three games, scored in double digits in 18 games, and scored at least 20 points in a game four times. He scored at least 23 points in three straight games in January, including a career-high of 25 points at St. Edward's (Jan. 23) in which he made seven 3-pointers and was named UTPB's Edgardo Madrid & Associates Men's Student-Athlete of the Month for January. Armstrong finished his career ranked fourth in the UTPB record books in made 3-pointers made with 154 across his two seasons as a Falcon. He was named to the 2024-25 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Team and was also named to the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll.

A finance major, Bryceson Burns provided a spark to the Falcons' bench after returning from an injury in mid-January. Bruns appeared in 15 games and averaged 5.5 points per game during his junior season, all while shooting 39.7 percent from the field with 19 rebounds, 14 assists and 14 steals on the season. He scored 11 points to go along with two rebounds and two steals in his return to the court against Lubbock Christian (Jan. 16), his first action in over two months. Bruns scored at least five points in nine games, including in each of the final five games of the season. He made his first start of the season in an 80-58 home victory over UT Tyler (Feb. 20) and started in each of the final three games of the season. He was named to the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll.

An MBA graduate student, Kyle Whippen appeared in four games in his lone season at UTPB before suffering a season-ending injury. In his four games he totaled 15 points and 17 rebounds and shot 63.6 percent (7-for-11) from the field. He was named to the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll with a 4.0 GPA for both semesters.

UTPB Head Men's Basketball Coach Kyle Tolin said, "I am proud of these three guys. This is what being a student-athlete is all about – having success on and off the floor."

Over 2,400 players earned spots on the NABC Honors Court for 2024-25.