BEVERLY — Endicott men’s basketball graduate forward Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester) and junior forward Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) have both been named as College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-Americans, the organization announced on Tuesday afternoon.
The College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America® program recognizes student-athletes for combined excellence in athletic competition and academics. Since 1952, this program has honored thousands of NCAA, NAIA, and two-year college athletes, with awards spanning multiple divisions and sports.
This season, Montagnino was named First Team Academic All-America, while Kinney earned a spot on the third team.
Last season, Montagnino became the first-ever member of the men’s basketball program to be named a CSC Academic All-American, so he becomes the first 2x Academic All-American in program history, while Kinney becomes the second member of the program to achieve such honors.
The two Gulls teammates join St. Johns’ Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins as the only pairs of teammates across all three divisions of NCAA men’s basketball to both earn Academic All-America nods.
MARCUS MONTAGNINO | FIRST TEAM CSC ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
Montagnino is the first 2x CSC Academic All-American in program history.
Last year, he became the first member of the program to receive Academic All-America honors, and this season, he is the program’s first-ever first teamer.
Montagnino boasts a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.84 as a Sport Leadership master’s student.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Sport Management from Xavier University in 2024, where he walked with a 3.60 GPA.
His work experience includes an internship with Props 2 Pops Basketball League, a YMCA Camp Counselor in the city of Gloucester, and a Xavier Athletics Intramural Employee.
Montagnino plans to continue his master’s at Endicott, with an expected graduation date set for May 2026.
Montagnino averaged 22.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.6 steals in 30 games played for the Gulls this season.
The graduate’s 669 total points scored are most in program single-season history, surpassing the previous record of 653.
In the NCAA Tournament, he led the Gulls in minutes (115), scoring (68 total points; 22.7 per game), rebounding (29 total; 9.7 per game), and assists (18; 6.0 per game).
His long list of postseason honors this season includes National Association of Basketball Coaches All-America First Team, D3hoops.com All-America Fourth Team, Conference of New England Player of the Year, 2025-26 D3hoops.com Region II Player of the Year, 2025-26 NABC District II Player of the Year, D3hoops.com All-Region II First Team, 2025-26 NABC All-District II First Team, and All-CNE First Team.
ELIJAH KINNEY | THIRD TEAM CSC ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
Kinney earned his first career CSC Academic All-America honors this season, and becomes the second-ever member of the men’s basketball program to achieve such honors.
The junior exercise science major sports a GPA of 3.53, and is expected to graduate in May 2027.
He has extensive experience as a basketball strength and skills trainer with Elevate Basketball Academy, where he instructs groups of young basketball players on fundamental basketball skills, lifting regiments, and overall performance increase tactics.
Last summer, he completed an internship with “You’re With Us,” a nonprofit organization that partners disabled young adults with college students. With the nonprofit, Kinney was responsible for designing and leading one-on-one strength and conditioning sessions tailored to the individual needs and abilities of disabled participants.
He has also spent lots of time volunteering with organizations such as Lone Gull, Norfolk Fire Department, and Jimmy Fund.
This past season, Kinney set numerous career bests across the board.
The Gulls forward posted averages of 20.7 points per game, 11.6 rebounds per game, 2.6 blocks per game, and 0.9 steals per game.
He amassed a total of 18 double-doubles over the course of the season, which ranked second nationally.
Kinney was also named the CNE Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player following a terrific two-game stretch in which he notched 45 points (15-29, 51.7%), 29 rebounds, seven blocks, seven steals, and three assists in 65:28 minutes played.
Most memorably, he ignited Endicott’s offense by scoring 10 of the team’s first 16 points in the CNE Championship, electrifying the MacDonald Gymnasium crowd right out of the gate. He already had a double-double by halftime (18 points, 10 rebounds), and concluded the game with a team-high 23 points (8-14 FG), 12 rebounds, four blocks, two assists, and one steal.
So far this postseason, Kinney has earned a laundry list of accolades, which include NABC All-America Second Team honors, spots on the CNE First Team, NABC All-District II First Team, and D3hoops.com All-Region II First Team, showcasing his outstanding play down the stretch of the 2025-26 season.
YEAR IN REVIEW
After finishing with a historic record of 28-2 (16-0 CNE) in 2025-26, the Gulls saw their season come to a close on Friday, March 13 after an 83-77 road loss to Illinois Wesleyan in the Sweet 16.
It was the second time in program history the Gulls have reached the Sweet 16, and the first since 2016-17.
The Gulls set program records for wins (28), winning streak (22) and best D3hoops.com national ranking (11) over the course of the season.
They were also the first program in conference history to pull off an undefeated in-conference slate and win the conference championship, showcasing their dominance from start to finish.
