AMHERST, N.Y. -- In the midst of his outstanding junior campaign, Daemen University men's basketball guard Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) has been named an NCAA Division II All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the organization announced on Tuesday. Selections were announced based on votes from NABC-member coaches across the country.

Philipkoski is one of 16 players across the country to earn the award and one of two players from the East Region, joining Jeremiah Anderson of Felician University (CACC) to take home the honor. He is the third NABC All-American in program history, joining fellow Wildcats Benjamin Bill (2025) and Andrew Sischo (2022). Both Bill and Sischo were named consensus all-Americans those years as well. 

The New Hartford, N.Y. native adds NABC All-American to his growing list of accolades from this season. The 2026 East Coast Conference Player of the Year was also named to the NABC Division II All-District First Team on Monday, D2CCA First Team All-East Region, First Team All-ECC, and is on the Bevo Francis Award Top 25 Watch List as well. 

In his standout junior campaign, Philipkoski has taken the reigns of Daemen's high-powered offense, leading the team with a team-high 18 points and 3.7 assists per game along with 7.1 rebounds per game. Philipkoski is shooting 51 percent from the field and 41.8 percent beyond the arc. Scoring in the double-digits for all but two games this season, Philipkoski totaled 20+ points in 13 different games, and is coming off his most dominant performance yet in the 2026 NCAA Division II East Region championship where he finished with a career-high 40 points after draining 11 three-point field goals. 

A three-time ECC Offensive Player of the Week and one-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week awardee this season, Philipkoski was named the Most Outstanding Player of the East Region tournament after averaging 22 points per game en route to the Wildcats winning the East Region and punching their ticket to the Elite Eight. He was also named to ECC All-Tournament team after averaging 15 points per game en route to Daemen's second straight ECC Tournament title.  

Philipkoski is joined on the NABC Division II All-America Team by Anderson, Jalen Brown (Cal State Dominguez Hills), Tyree Campbell (Cal State East Bay), Carl Cleveland (Young Harris), Terry Coner Jr. (Oklahoma Baptist), Dallis Dillard (IUP), Tameron Ferguson (Augustana), Dallas Graziani (Nova Southeastern), Cam Lowe (Black Hills State), Amondo Miller Jr. (Lubbock Christian), Derek Moore (Montevallo), Pace Prosser (Gannon), Marlon Smith (Columbus State), Marcus Tomashek (Michigan Tech) and Jaylen Wesley (Rockhurst). 

Philipkoski and the entire Daemen men's basketball team continue their storybook season in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight on Wednesday, March 25 in Pittsburgh, Pa.. Boasting a 33-1 overall record, the Wildcats garnered the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will face No. 5 seed Lander on Wednesday at 8:30 PM at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. 

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Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

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