Questions surrounded the Hillsdale College men's basketball team entering the 2022-23 season.
Coming off the program's best ever NCAA DII Tournament run after making the Elite Eight in 2021-22, could the program remain competitive with the best teams in the G-MAC and the Midwest region, even after losing one of the program's best-ever players, two-time All-American Patrick Cartier, and another three-time All-G-MAC talent in Austen Yarian?
During the 2022-23 campaign, the Chargers answered yes to the above question, and proved they were ready to meet the challenges the Midwest Region and the G-MAC had to offer with another excellent, history-making season. Hillsdale finished 23-7 overall and 15-5 in the G-MAC, nearly matching the 2021-22 team's record and finishing just a game back of the G-MAC title in a tight conference race.
Hillsdale's stellar regular season showing allowed the Chargers to qualify for the NCAA DII Tournament for the third year in a row, and just the eighth time in program history.
While Hillsdale came up just short in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in an 86-81 loss to Northern Michigan, the 2022-23 campaign still stands as a momentous one in Chargers men's basketball history.
It's the first time in Hillsdale history that a men's basketball team has made the NCAA DII tournament in three consecutive seasons, and the first time since 1980-81 that Hillsdale's men's basketball team has recorded three consecutive campaigns of 20 or more wins. 2022-23 is also just the 10th time in program history that the Chargers have won 23 or more games in a season. During the course of the season, Hillsdale head coach John Tharp also reached an impressive milestone, winning his 500th game as a collegiate head coach with a 90-64 win over Malone on Feb. 16.
Hillsdale accomplished this success with impressive senior leadership and balance. Four Hillsdale starters averaged in double figures, led by sharp-shooting senior guard Jack Gohlke, who averaged 14.2 points per game and finished second all-time in Hillsdale history for 3-pointers made in a season with 98.
Gohlke earned first-team All-G-MAC honors, and was joined on the first team by senior Peter Kalthoff, whose breakout year in the post in place of Cartier was a huge factor in the team's success. Entering the 2022-23 season with just 132 minutes played in four previous seasons at Hillsdale, Kalthoff started every single game for the Chargers and finished second on the team in scoring (13.9 points per game) while also leading the Chargers in rebounds and blocked shots, earning G-MAC All-Defensive team honors as well as first-team honors. Together, Gohlke and Kalthoff combined to break four Hillsdale NCAA Tournament records in a valiant effort in the Chargers' loss to Northern Michigan.
Along with Gohlke and Kalthoff, Hillsdale also got huge contributions from All-G-MAC second team honorees, sophomore Joe Reuter and senior Kyle Goessler, who each averaged double figures in points per game, as well as senior point guard Cole Nau, a steady hand at the position who won 46 games in two seasons as a starter for the Chargers.
With the end of the 2022-23 season, Hillsdale bids farewell to one of the most successful and decorated senior classes in program history, as Gohlke, Kalthoff, Goessler and Nau, as well as Noah Applegate and Jacob Ngobi, graduate this spring.
Although the losses this off-season will be heavy, Hillsdale has proven to be a team that reloads, rather than rebuilds, over the course of the past few seasons. Reuter will return to lead a team that returns several key substitutes in 2022-23 who look poised for bigger roles in Charles Woodhams, Eric Radisevic and Ashton Janowski, as well as several other talented returners and a strong incoming freshman class. The Chargers will look to continue to maintain the high levels of success that the last few senior classes at Hillsdale have made a regular occurrence in 2023-24.