Sun Conference Athletics

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Embry-Riddle men’s basketball team has been honored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics as a Champion of Character team.  The Eagles received the Buffalo Funds Five Star Award that recognizes programs that strive for excellence in and out of competition and are part of communities throughout the country dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.

Throughout the 2009-10 season, Embry-Riddle basketball players and coaches have given back to the community volunteering more than 200 hours or service. The Eagles have served as Big Brother mentors, put on clinics, assisted with a variety of elementary school programs and served as tutors, and have been asked to give motivational talks to students on a number of occasions.

“Character has allowed us to enjoy the good days and take on the bad ones,” junior team captain Glenn Dalcourt said. “Character is who you are. Character is how you take on adversity. Character defines champions from all the rest. Character allows us to work to our maximum potential, day in and day out.  We have a couple of champions this year, but character won’t allow us to settle. There’s a correlation between failure on and off the court. Once you decide that failure is acceptable, it’s easier to give up next time. My team has decided that we’ll succeed on and off the court by any means necessary. It means everything to us.”

The Eagles enjoyed a great deal of success in 2008-09. The Blue and Gold captured The Sun Conference regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the quarterfinal round at the national championship before finishing the season at 30-6 overall.