Denver’s Anderson recognized with NCAA Elite 90 award as player with highest cumulative GPA participating in Frozen Four

Denver’s Kent Anderson is presented with the NCAA Elite 90 award Wednesday by Vermont AD Jeff Schulman, also the chair of the NCAA ice hockey committee (photo: Denver Athletics).

Denver sophomore forward Kent Anderson has been named the recipient of the NCAA’s Elite 90 award for scholastic achievement.

Anderson is a finance major in DU’s Daniels College of Business and carries a cumulative 3.975 GPA. He was presented with the Elite 90 award following Denver’s practice on Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center ahead of the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four.

Founded by the NCAA, the Elite 90 award recognizes the essence of a student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships.

Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above academically who have participated in a sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.

The Calgary native is the seventh overall Denver student-athlete to earn the NCAA Elite 90 award and the third member of the hockey program, joining Gabe Levin in 2016 and Erich Fear in 2019.

A two-time member of the NCHC academic all-conference team and an NCHC distinguished scholar-athlete in each of his first two collegiate seasons, Anderson was also recognized as a 2022-23 AHCA national All-American scholar (this season’s honors will be released later this summer).

On the ice, the defenseman has recorded career highs in 2023-24 with three goals and four assists for seven points. He has added 20 blocked shots, 12 penalty minutes and a plus-11 rating while playing in 39 of 42 games this season.