On the court, the Hillsdale College men's basketball team proved they were one of the best teams in the country at the NCAA Division II level last season, reaching the NCAA Elite Eight round.
At the same time, the Chargers were putting in the work off the court to prove they are one of the smartest teams, too.
The men's basketball team received recognition for that academic success on Tuesday morning, as the National Association of Basketball Coaches honored the Chargers with the Team Academic Excellence Award for the fourth straight season. The team's combined GPA easily exceeded the minimum threshold of 3.0 necessary to receive the honor.
Just three of the teams that qualified for the NCAA DII Elite Eight earned Team Academic Excellence honors, with Bentley and Chico State both receiving recognition along with Hillsdale as well. In addition, Hillsdale was one of just four G-MAC teams to earn the honor, joined by Ashland, Findlay and Trevecca Nazarene.
As the Chargers were playing at an unprecedented level on the court, they also put together one of the best seasons in program history in the classroom as well. Twelve of Hillsdale's 15 players posted a 3.3 GPA or higher, one of the highest percentages of any team on the Hillsdale College campus.
Eight of those players earned NABC Honors Court recognition individually in addition to the team honor. 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.
Five players were repeat honorees for the Chargers. Graduates Patrick Cartier and Tavon Brown each received the distinction for the second straight year, as did Jack Gohlke, Peter Kalthoff and Jacob Ngobi, who are all returning for the 2022-23 season.
Cartier, a Psychology major, wrapped up one of the finest careers in Hillsdale College history this past spring, earning consensus first-team All-American honors and back-to-back G-MAC Player of the Year honors while leading the Chargers to their deepest ever NCAA Tournament run. Brown, a Financial Management major, also played a critical role as one of the team's top defenders and an important part of its rotation.
Gohlke, an Accounting major, Kalthoff, an English major, and Ngobi, a Biology major, all made important contributions to the team's success as well and will be looking to continue to perform on and off the court in the 2022-23 campaign, with making the Honors Court for a third straight season a strong possibility.
Three Charger players also received NABC Honors Court recognition for the first time. Guards Cole Nau and Kyle Goessler, both Accounting majors and starters on the 2021-22 team, were recognized, as well as redshirt sophomore Noah Applegate, a Financial Management major and key part of the Chargers' rotation during the NCAA DII Elite Eight run.
Hillsdale will be looking to continue its recent run of excellence on and off the court in the 2022-23 season, seeking to defend its NCAA DII Midwest Regional title while also contending for its third G-MAC crown in four seasons.