NASHVILLE - For the seventh time in program history, Lipscomb athletics has ascended to the top of the class as the Bisons claimed the 2021-22 ASUN Conference Academic Trophy, announced by the league office on Wednesday.

Lipscomb achieved the honor with 89.97 percent of its student-athletes earning a 3.0 grade point-average or better during the 2021-22 academic year. It marks the highest percentage by any school in conference history.

"Simply managing the sport piece of the collegiate athletics experience is challenging enough for most students today," said Philip Hutcheson, Lipscomb's director of athletics. "So to have so many of our student-athletes who have found a way to compete at the highest level of NCAA competition and to excel in the classroom is truly outstanding."

The Bisons had 242 student athletes eclipse the 3.0 GPA mark, while seven different programs put 100% of its athletes on the Honor Roll. Four others were just one student-athlete short of the perfect mark. 

"Congratulations, first, to our student-athletes for the effort expended to earn this honor. Congratulations to our coaches for recruiting for academic fit and for setting the tone with a culture that values academic excellence. And, in particular, congratulations to our Associate A.D. for Academics and our Director of Academic Services, Grace Ann Miller and Morgan Mitchell, for their daily work, advocacy for and encouragement of our over 270 student athletes," said Hutcheson. "Many times, I've witnessed first-hand the extra effort they put forth on behalf of all of our teams, and their attitude and effort have both been outstanding.

"Finally, I want to make sure and recognize the efforts of the Lipscomb faculty and staff who have always invested so much of themselves into all of our students, and that certainly includes our student athletes. The enthusiasm for academic excellence and the encouragement for our students that they bring to the classroom on a daily basis directly affects winning an award like this. So, this ASUN Academic banner hangs in Allen Arena in their honor, too."

The Bisons easily took the league's top honors overall as Bellarmine finished second in the standings with 82.32 percent of the Knights earning all-academic honors. 

Lipscomb's seven academic trophies are 2nd-most in conference history, only behind Belmont's nine.

The Bisons have brought home the honor six times in the last eight years that the award was handed out. No champion was crowned during the covid-shortened 2019-20 year. 

In total, across the 12 schools in the ASUN, there were 2,521 student-athletes who landed on the Commissioner's Honor Roll.