Peterson, Sutton are Named to NABC Honors Court for Success in Classroom

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University men's basketball players Ryan Peterson (Jr., P, Edmonds, WA/Edmonds-Woodway HS) and  Ben Sutton (Jr., F, Seattle, WA/Ingraham HS) have been chosen as members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court for the 2019-20 season as a result of their academic success. Peterson and Sutton were joined by 12 other Northwest Conference student-athletes who were named to the Honors Court.

"Ryan and Ben have been dedicated to the expectation of being student-athletes since day one of their first year on campus. I am happy their hard work has paid off in earning this honor."
-- Willamette Head Coach Kip Ioane

In order to qualify for the NABC Honors Court student-athletes had to achieve a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or higher through the end of the 2019-20 academic year. Each selection also had to be a varsity player who recently finished his junior or senior season. Every Honors Court athlete was at his current college or university for at least one full year. The 2019-20 Honors Court includes more than 1,350 student-athletes from NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III, as well as NAIA Division I and NAIA Division II.

 NABC Honors Court for 2019-20

Ryan Peterson (Jr., Post) is majoring in Economics at Willamette. This past season, he competed in 24 games of 25 games and made two starts. He shot 56.8% from the field and averaged 2.3 rebounds per game. He ranked second on the team in blocked shots.

During his sophomore season, Peterson saw action in 22 games for the Bearcats. He connected on 65.9% of his field goal attempts and grabbed 2.6 rebounds per game.

In three seasons at Willamette, Peterson has played in 54 games. His efforts on the court have allowed him to average 2.4 rebounds and 2.2 points per game. He has blocked a total of 30 shots in his career.

Ben Sutton (Jr., Forward) is majoring in Biology with a minor in Spanish. In 2019-20, he provided the Bearcats with 10.9 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game. He also led Willamette with 25 blocked shots in 25 games played (18 starts). He shot 51.4% on field goals. Sutton ranked third in the NWC in rebounding and was fifth in blocked shots.

As a sophomore in 2018-19, Sutton played in 16 games with two starts. He averaged 9.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He blocked 11 shots.

Sutton has scored 499 career points and hauled down 286 rebounds at Willamette while playing in 57 games with 20 starts. He has registered 38 blocked shots on defense. He owns a 53.5% career shooting percentage and has been above 50% all three seasons.

Note:  Academic year listed for each player is for the 2019-20 season.