BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Navy's Austin Benigni has been selected as the 2026 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's basketball, the league office announced today.  The academic award comes two days after he was named this season's Patriot League Player of the Year.

Benigni joins Colgate's Adonal Foyle (1995-96), Bucknell's Mike Muscala (2012-13) and Nana Foulland (2016-17) and Colgate's Tucker Richardson (2022-23) as the lone Patriot League men's basketball players to be named the player and scholar-athlete of the year in the same season.

Additionally, Benigni is the first Mid in 25 years and the fifth overall to earn the league's top academic award.  Prior Navy recipients are John Haase (1991-92), Alex Kohnen (1993-94), Wes Cooper (1994-95) and Michael Cunningham (2000-01).

Nominees for the both the individual award and all-academic team needed to be at least a sophomore academically, have compiled a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.20 and be a key member of the team.

Navy's first three-time member of the Patriot League All-Academic Team since its inception with the 2010-11 season, Benigni has posted a 3.42 cumulative grade-point average as a computer science major.  He has received academic honors from the USNA in three semesters, and last year was recognized as a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court for his academic success.

On the court this year, he ranks second in the league in scoring (18.1 ppg), fourth in assists (4.4 apg), first in three-point field goal percentage (45.7%) and second in free throw percentage (88.2%).  He scored at least 10 points in 17 of 18 league games and in 29 of the team's 31 games on the season, with 20 or more points coming in nine league games and 14 games overall.

The top-seeded Mids will play host to eighth-seeded Bucknell Thursday at 7 p.m. in a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal round game.

Men's Basketball Academic All-League Team
Julen Iturbe, American; Michael McNair, Boston University; Achile Spadone, Bucknell; Sam Wright, Colgate; Gabe Warren, Holy Cross; Mark Butler, Lafayette; Hank Alvey, Lehigh; Edouard Benoit, Lehigh; Jordan Stiemke, Loyola Maryland; Jacob Theodosiou, Loyola Maryland; Austin Benigni, Navy

Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Austin Benigni, Navy