Georgia basketball players Houston Kessler and Juwan Parker jump start the college basketball preseason award period.
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With basketball season three and half month away, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court kicks off preseason awards
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And the Georgia basketball team hopped on the award wagon with when Houston Kessler and Juwan Parker were named to the NABC Honors Court on Thursday.
Student-athletes must be a junior or senior academically with a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher to be eligible. Student-athletes also must have attended their current institution for at least one year.
Kessler, a redshirt junior from Newnan, Ga., majoring in Economics, has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll during each of his three years at Georgia. He played in 29 games last season with one start, and averaged 0.9 points and 0.9 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high seven points at Kentucky.
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Parker, a junior from Tulsa, Ok., majoring in Management, is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll honoree. He started the first 14 games of last season before missing most of the rest of the campaign with an Achilles injury. Parker averaged 5.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 24 minutes per game in games played before his injury. After returning to play in three late-season contests, he finished averaging 4.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 20.2 minutes per game.
Last season, Georgia finished 21-12 overall and 11-7 in the SEC last season, tying for third place. After receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs dropped a 70-63 decision to eventual Final Four team Michigan State in their opening round.
Georgia is coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons for just the third time in the program’s 107 seasons of play.
The Bulldogs open the season hosting Chattanooga on November 13, Murray State on November 20 and High Point on November 25. Georgia travels to Seton Hall on November 28 before hosting a half-dozen games at Stegeman Coliseum during December. Matchups with Kansas State on December 4, Georgia Tech on December 19 and Clemson on December 22 headline that stretch.