Norwalk grad Haraway earns individual academic honors from NABC

The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) on July 15 announced its 2023-24 academic awards, and Ashland University's basketball team as a whole, and four Eagles individually, were among the honorees. Ashland's men earned an NABC Team Academic Excellence award for the sixth time since 2013. The NABC Team Academic Excellence awards recognize men's basketball programs that completed the 2023-24 academic year with a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. The Eagles' team GPA was 3.066 in fall 2023, and 3.038 in spring 2024. Among the four individuals recognized was Brandon Haraway, a 2019 Norwalk High School graduate. Haraway graduated with a Nursing degree and a 2.926 cumulative GPA. Haraway played in three games in 2023-24 prior to medically retiring. He suffered a torn meniscus — the pad of cartilage that cushions the shinbone from the thighbone — in his left knee during a Jan. 12, 2023 game against Lake Erie College in Painesville. He played the next three months through tremendous pain, then underwent surgery early in June 2023. But after just three games last season, the pain returned. After it was learned he tore the meniscus cartilage again, Haraway opted not to play through the injury yet again and focused on his post-school career. He was hired in January as an ER nurse at OhioHealth Riverside Hospital in Columbus. Haraway finished his AU career with 1,630 points – sixth-most in program history. The three-time all-league first team selection had two conference tournament MVPs, and is also only the second AU player in the last 30 years to total 1,550 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in a career. At Norwalk, Haraway became a finalist for Ohio's prestigious Mr. Basketball award after starring as a senior in 2018-19 for the Truckers. He finished fourth in the voting among seven candidates. He became the first player in Norwalk history to earn Northwest District Player of the Year honors — and just the second to be All-Ohio first team while helping his team to league and district titles as a senior. His 1,179 career points are sixth all-time at Norwalk. The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players. Haraway is the 23rd different individual from AU's program to earn the award, which includes Plymouth graduate, former player and — current associate head coach — Brook Turson in 2014-15.