The 2020-21 season was an outstanding one for the Hillsdale College men’s basketball team – off the court as well as on.
The Chargers had one of the best seasons in recent memory this past year, setting a school record for single season winning percentage, winning a second straight G-MAC title and reaching the regional final round of the NCAA Division II tournament for the first time ever.
That success didn’t come at the expense of Hillsdale’s academic achievements, as shown by the awards the Chargers claimed this past week.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) recognized Hillsdale with the Team Academic Excellence Award for the third straight season on Wednesday. Hillsdale once again easily exceeded the minimum requirements for the honor, posting a 3.28 combined GPA that was well above the 3.0 required for recognition.
As befitting a team recognized for Academic Excellence, the Chargers were once again well represented on the 2020-21 NABC Honors Court, honoring individual college basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the previous season.
In order to be named to the Honors Court, a player must be in his third year or higher at the collegiate level, active on the varsity roster, and possess a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.
Six Chargers earned the Honors Court recognition. Leading the way was graduated senior Davis Larson, who was the only one of the six Chargers to receive the honor for the second straight year.
Larson graduated with a degree in Financial Management in the spring and ended his career as a three-time All-G-MAC honoree who helped lead Hillsdale to back-to-back conference titles.
Five juniors also received the award for the first time for the Chargers. Junior starters Patrick Cartier, a Psychology major, and Tavon Brown, a Financial Management major, both added Honors Court recognition to a long list of individual awards the two players have received for the 2020-21 season.
Reserves Jack Gohlke (Accounting), Peter Kalthoff (English) and Jacob Ngobi (Biology) also received the Honors Court award for their work in the classroom and performance on the court this past season.
The Chargers will return to the courts in late October looking to extend one of the best multi-year runs in program history by contending for a third-straight conference title and second-straight NCAA DII tournament berth.