2021-22 D2CCA NCAA DII Men's Basketball All-America Teams
2021-22 NABC NCAA DII Men's Basketball All-America Team
For someone as decorated as Hillsdale College junior men's basketball player Patrick Cartier is, it's hard to keep breaking new ground.
But Cartier finds a way to do it anyways, and on Tuesday, hours before Hillsdale College's first NCAA DII Elite Eight appearance, the junior achieved another historic first in the 32-year history of the Charger program at the NCAA DII level.
For the second straight season, both the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association bestowed All-American honors on Cartier for his standout play this season. Unlike last year, however, both organizations recognized him as a first-team All-American -- making him the first Charger men's basketball player to earn consensus first-team honors since the team transitioned to the NCAA DII level in the 1990-91 season.
Cartier was one of 16 players recognized as a NCAA DII All-American by the NABC, as voted on by its membership. The NABC does not distinguish between All-Americans and honors all players who are named to the team as first-team honorees. The D2CCA, meanwhile, named Cartier as one of five first-team NCAA DII All-Americans as voted on by Sports Information Directors across the country, after giving Cartier third-team honors in 2020-21.
The honors come as Cartier leads the Chargers into the NCAA Elite Eight tonight, after helping the Chargers win their first-ever NCAA DII Midwest Regional title last week. The junior was dominant throughout Hillsdale's three-game regional run, averaging 24.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 71.8 percent from the floor and 88.9 percent from the foul line in three consecutive victories to earn Tournament MVP honors.
Cartier's two All-American honors add to a bevy of prior awards this season, as he's already been named the G-MAC Player of the Year for the second straight season, the D2CCA Midwest Regional Player of the Year, the Midwest Regional Tournament MVP, and a third-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, as well as making the Top 25 watchlist for the Bevo Francis Award, which honors the top player in the country at the NCAA DII, DIII, NAIA and NCCAA levels.
In 2021-22, Cartier has been one of the country's most prolific and efficient scorers, averaging 22.1 points per game on 65.9 percent shooting from the floor, leading the Midwest in both categories and ranking 10th in the nation at the DII level in points per game, and sixth in DII in field goal percentage, the only player at the DII level to rank in the top 15 in both categories.
The junior also is averaging the most assists per game (2.4) and blocks per game (0.6) in his career in 2021-22, with a better assist-to-turnover ratio than his 202-21 campaign that saw him earn consensus All-American honors. He has scored in double figures in all 30 of Hillsdale's games this season, including 21 20-plus point games and four 30-plus point games. And while he does most of his work in the post, he's efficient from everywhere on the floor, hitting 44.7 percent of his 3-pointers and 76.1 percent of his free throws this season.
Cartier's historic season has him rapidly moving up the all-time leaderboards at Hillsdale College for his career. His 663 points in 2021-22 are the fifth most all-time in a single season in Hillsdale history, his 259 made field goals are fourth and his 124 made free throws are seventh. For his career, Cartier has 1,606 points, good for eighth all time with at least one more full season to play at Hillsdale, his 633 made field goals are sixth all-time, and his 296 free throws are tied for ninth. Cartier is also the career leader in field goal percentage at Hillsdale at 65.2 percent, four full percentage points higher than second place.
The junior and the Chargers earned the seventh seed in the NCAA DII Elite Eight and will take on second-seeded Indiana (Pa.) in a quarterfinal matchup at 7 p.m. tonight, looking to reach the Final Four round on Thursday.
Photo Courtesy of Walsh Athletics