Gokul Natesan, an Indian-American basketball player has picked up his second all-region award of the postseason, this time from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). According to reports, Gokul Natesan landed on the NABC’s All-South Central Second Team after the Colorado School of Mines guard had a standout 2015-16 season to lead the Orediggers to the NCAA Tournament. The NABC awards are selected and voted on by the member coaches in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II.
Natesan was also a First-Team D2CCA All-Region pick earlier this month, according to a press release from the school. The D2CCA stands for the Division II Conference Commissioners Association. This is just the latest in a series of honors for the 6 ft 5 inch, 190 lb Natesan this season. His other recent honors include RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletics Conference). The junior averaged 20.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.1 steals per game to lead Mines (24-8) to the RMAC Tournament title game and an NCAA Tournament appearance. He was a member of the RMAC Shootout All-Tournament Team.
He’s an achiever off the court as well. Natesan’s classroom performance earned him First-Team Academic All-America and RMAC Academic Player of the Year and First-Team Academic All-RMAC honors.
Brought up in Santa Clara, California, Natesan attended Cupertino High School. He had chalked up many wins and honors while still in high school. Natesan’s detailed game performance on the Colorado School of Mines website tracks his achievements year by year since high school. He spent the 2012-13 season at La Jolla Prep Basketball Academy in San Diego, California, where he averaged 15.5 points per game and put in a stellar performance getting recognition as an MVP, earning selections to various teams. Natesan averaged 18.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game while making 75 3-point baskets as a junior.
He kept up his grades, making it to the academic honor roll all four years, and was a member of the National Honor Society and French Honor Society and was named the 2012 Cal-Hi Sports CCS Winter Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
In 2013-2014, Natesan was named RMAC Freshman of the Year. In 2014-2015, he scored a season-high 25 three times, and crossed 20 points seven times. In 2015-16, he was part of the team recognized as a CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American, a prestigious recognition given to teams composed of most outstanding student-athletes, which is administered by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
