2023-24 CSC Academic All-America® Teams
 
AUSTIN, Texas – Colorado School of Mines men's basketball graduate student guard Sam Beskind can add one more accolade to his ledger during his time in Golden, as Wednesday he was named Third Team Academic All-America® by the College Sports Communicators (CSC).
 
A two-year standout at Mines as a graduate transfer from Stanford, Beskind earns the first Academic All-America® honors of his career. The Tucson, Arizona native was named the RMAC Academic Player of the Year this season and also earned First Team All-RMAC honors in addition to taking home an RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award and being named to the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic All-Tournament Team back in November. One of two players to start all 33 games this season, Beskind led Mines with 999 minutes played and averaged 30.3 per night along with 8.6 points. 6.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists while shooting .403/.304/.827. He led the RMAC with 159 assists, the third-most by an Oredigger in school history, and assist/turnover ratio (2.3) while his 279 career assists in two seasons are tied for eighth all-time with Brendan Sullivan. 10 times this season Beskind recorded double figure scoring performances and had five games with 10 or more rebounds and 16 games with five or more assists. He recorded three double-doubles during the season and recorded a pair of 10 assist games, marking the eighth and ninth times in Mines history the feat has been done. He scored a season-high 19 points with 13 rebounds on February 9 against Black Hills State and closed his career with eight points, six assists, five rebounds, a block and a steal in the NCAA Tournament against Dallas Baptist. As if he wasn't busy enough, Beskind also hosts a podcast called "Built For Earth", in which he interviews industry leaders in the field of renewable energy and discusses ways to help improve the way of live for Earth's inhabitants and plan for a sustainable future. Already a two-time Stanford graduate with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Management Science & Engineering, Beskind will graduate in May from Mines with a second Master's in Advanced Energy Systems & Humanitarian Engineering and totes a 3.889 GPA.
 
Beskind is the 181st Academic All-America® selection in Mines history, the most of any NCAA Division II institution and extends the men's basketball program's active streak of recipients to five seasons. Overall, the men's basketball program now has nine Academic All-Americans, seven of which have come under the direction of head coach Pryor Orser.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on X and Instagram at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.