STWF Sports | NEW ORLEANS | June 3, 2026 — The New Orleans Privateers men’s basketball program earned another important postseason recognition Wednesday, as Coleton Benson, Irish Coquia and Kedrick Osby were named to the Southland Conference All-Academic Team.
Highlighting the Achievements of Coleton Benson
The honor highlights a strong academic showing for UNO while also recognizing three players who contributed on the court during the 2025-26 season. For the Privateers, the three selections mark the program’s first Southland All-Academic men’s basketball honorees since Derek St. Hilaire earned the recognition following the 2021-22 campaign.
Benson led the group after completing one of the most productive offensive seasons in the conference. The senior earned his degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and finished his collegiate career with a 3.364 GPA. On the court, he averaged 16.3 points per game and was the only Privateer to appear in all 33 games.
Already named a second-team All-Southland selection, Benson became one of the league’s most dependable scorers. He finished the year with four games of 30-plus points, the most by any player in the Southland, and added 10 games with at least 20 points. His biggest early-season performance came in November, when he scored 33 points against Tulane and later earned Southland Player of the Week honors.
Benson also made history at the free-throw line. He broke both the UNO school record and the Southland Conference record for free-throw percentage by converting 92.8 percent of his attempts. He also shot 39.8 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from 3-point range.
His combination of scoring, efficiency and academic success made him one of the standout names on the conference’s academic team.
Osby also earned recognition after finishing the year with a 3.545 cumulative GPA while pursuing an undergraduate degree in Human Performance and Health Promotion. The junior played in 32 games and became an important bench contributor for the Privateers, averaging 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
While Osby’s role often came in supporting stretches, he provided valuable production throughout the season. He scored in double figures five times, with his top performance coming against eventual Southland champion McNeese. In that matchup, Osby scored 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 32 minutes.
Osby was also one of UNO’s most reliable outside shooters. He finished 22-of-55 from beyond the arc, good for 40 percent. That mark led the team among regular 3-point shooters, giving the Privateers an efficient perimeter option off the bench.
Coquia rounded out UNO’s trio of honorees. The junior is working toward a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and holds a 3.308 cumulative GPA. He appeared in 25 games for the Privateers, averaging 2.7 points and 1.2 assists per contest.
His best performance came in December at Memphis, where he scored a career-high 10 points at FedEx Forum. Coquia played 20 minutes that night, made three of his five field-goal attempts and also recorded a career-high six assists.
To qualify for the Southland All-Academic Team, student-athletes must hold a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 before the conclusion of the sport’s championship semester and complete one full semester at their current institution. They also must compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s competitions during the season.
UNO’s three selections add to the program’s history of Southland academic honorees. Before Benson, Coquia and Osby, the Privateers’ previous selections included St. Hilaire in 2021-22, Ezekiel Charles in 2018-19, Travin Thibodaux in 2016-17 and Kevin Hill, who earned the honor in back-to-back seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
This year’s Southland team featured student-athletes from across the conference, with East Texas A&M junior Noah Pagotto earning Southland Student-Athlete of the Year honors after posting a 3.96 GPA.
For New Orleans, the recognition of Benson, Coquia and Osby reflects more than individual achievement. It shows a program continuing to value production in the classroom as much as performance on game night.
