UNIVERSITY College Worcester has strengthened its position as a centre of sporting excellence after being awarded National Basketball Academy status.

The St John's college received the accolade from English Basketball (EB), praised the study and coaching offered to students and UCW's strong community links.

Its strong partnership with Worcester Wolves Basketball Club was also described by EB as a "major asset" and Worcester Mayor Allah Ditta congratulated the team this week.

UCW is now one of only two colleges or universities to have achieved Academy status.

"It has been a real team effort to secure this, as there were pretty challenging targets to meet in terms of playing, coaching, officiating and community links," he said.

"Gaining official recognition by the governing body will help us to continue attracting top players both at home and abroad."

UCW's men's basketball team were this year crowned British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) Champions, and will represent Britain in the BUSA European Championships in Poland this summer.

The women's basketball team also reached this year's finals - finishing sixth in their first appearance in the Championships.

In a recent Guardian newspaper league table, sports science teaching at the Henwick Grove college was ranked third in the country.