Kansas.— The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is proud to announce that over 490 student-athletes competing in athletics in the conference in the Winter 2025-26 season earned the Scholar-Athlete distinction. This honor recognizes excellence in the classroom by KCAC member student-athletes who are sophomores or above in academic standing at the beginning of the semester in which they compete, and carry a minimum 3.25 cumulative GPA at the beginning of the semester in which they compete.

Men's and Women's Basketball led the way with 184 combined honorees, followed by Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving with 124 KCAC Scholar-Athletes. Men's and women's bowling, men's and women's wrestling, and competitive cheer/competitive dance each had at least 55 honorees per sport.

The University of Saint Mary is exceptionally honored that the Spires led the KCAC with 61 total athletes earning this Scholar-Athlete distinction. Further, USM led the conference with 39 student-athletes earning the NAIA Scholar-Athlete honor. As a conference, the KCAC ranked fourth in the NAIA in total number of winter scholar-athletes. A true testament to our student-athletes unwavering dedication to their teammates, their respective sports, and the university they proudly represent.

Each KCAC full member institution had at least five scholar-athlete honorees in the winter season. In total, the fourteen full member institutions of the KCAC accounted for 347 scholar-athletes. The KCAC had per-sport members competing in Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving, Women's Wrestling, and Men's and Women's Bowling, and there were 149 scholar-athletes from those per-sport member institutions.

To view the full list of KCAC Scholar-Athletes, broken down by sport and institution, please click here.
 
ABOUT THE KANSAS COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and sponsors 28 varsity sports. Founded in 1890, the KCAC is the second oldest intercollegiate athletic conference in the country. As the conference home to 14 member institutions, the KCAC emphasizes commitment, cooperation, high achievement, and working towards a common goal in the act of competition. To keep up with the latest conference news, follow the KCAC on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram using the handle @kcacsports.