By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball received votes in both of the final national polls produced by the NABC and D2SIDA for the 2021-22 season. D2SIDA released its final poll following the NCAA Tournament, but the NABC does not do a post-NCAA Tournament poll. The Tigers finished the 2021-22 season at 23-6 overall and placed third in the MIAA regular season standings.
The Tigers produced their best mark for a season in which they didn’t receive a selection to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers were in position for a bid until a pair of teams outside the top eight of the Central Region rankings got hot for a few games and won their conference tournaments (NSIC and GAC), automatically nabbing two of the eight spots in the regional field. One of those teams, GAC Tournament champion Southwestern Oklahoma State, was a sub-.500 team at 14-17 overall that finished seventh in the GAC regular season standings and was a team the Tigers defeated by 16 early in the season. The Central Region was stacked this year and at one point in February had six teams in the Top 25 of the NABC poll (which included FHSU). However, with regionalization in NCAA Division II and automatic bids still given to conference tournament champions, the Tigers (23-6) and Southeastern Oklahoma State (24-6) were casualties of bad luck from results of two of the three conference tournaments.
The 23-6 record tops a 21-7 record from 2001-02 (Mark Johnson‘s first year as head coach of the Tigers) as the best mark by the Tigers for a season they were not in the NCAA Tournament. A 20-8 record by the Tigers in 2012-13 was their previous best mark as members of the MIAA for a year they did not play in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers finished third in the MIAA standings only one game back of co-champions Central Oklahoma and Northwest Missouri State. Northwest Missouri State went on to win its third-consecutive NCAA national title. Northwest Missouri (three) and Central Oklahoma (two) accounted for five of Fort Hays State’s six losses on the season. The only other loss was a road loss at Rogers State.
Jared Vitztum closed out his storied Fort Hays State career with 1,580 points and 944 rebounds. He finished fourth on the all-time scoring list and second on the all-time rebounds list at FHSU. He is a three-time All-MIAA selection, a two-time NABC All-District selection, and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection. Nyjee Wright closed out his four years of competition on the floor for FHSU with 792 points, 202 rebounds, and 166 assists. He was an All-MIAA selection in 2021-22 as well.
D2SIDA Top 25 Poll – Final (March 28, 2022)
| Rank | School | Pts | Record | Prev |
| 1 | Northwest Missouri State (15) | 375 | 34-5 | 7 |
| 2 | Augusta | 359 | 33-4 | 10 |
| 3 | Indiana (Pa.) | 343 | 33-3 | 2 |
| 4 | Nova Southeastern | 322 | 31-1 | 1 |
| 5 | Black Hills State | 290 | 26-8 | RV |
| 6 | Chico State | 274 | 22-5 | 16 |
| 7 | Bentley | 273 | 25-5 | 11 |
| 8 | Queens (N.C.) | 269 | 30-4 | 4 |
| 9 | Hillsdale | 244 | 23-8 | NR |
| 10 | Augustana | 237 | 26-4 | 8 |
| 11 | Lubbock Christian | 205 | 27-4 | 5 |
| 12 | West Liberty | 173 | 29-3 | 3 |
| 13 | CSU San Bernardino | 169 | 24-4 | 9 |
| 14 | Lincoln Memorial | 156 | 26-5 | 12 |
| 15 | UNC Pembroke | 140 | 27-4 | 13 |
| 16 | Embry-Riddle | 134 | 24-10 | T22 |
| 17 | West Texas A&M | 122 | 29-7 | 15 |
| 18 | CSU San Marcos | 117 | 20-5 | 6 |
| 19 | Upper Iowa | 104 | 26-6 | 17 |
| 20 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 80 | 28-5 | 20 |
| 21 | Minnesota Duluth | 69 | 25-6 | 14 |
| 22 | Mercyhurst | 59 | 25-7 | T22 |
| 23 | California (Pa.) | 55 | 23-10 | RV |
| 24 | Missouri-St. Louis | 54 | 26-7 | RV |
| 25 | Colorado Mesa | 51 | 26-10 | NR |
Receiving Votes: Walsh – 48; Ferris State – 48; Central Oklahoma – 14; Union
(Tenn.) – 14; Alaska Fairbanks – 13; Alabama Huntsville – 10; Barry – 9;
Washburn – 9; Point Loma – 9; Flagler – 8; Fort Hays State – 5; Miles – 4; Fairmont
State – 3; Truman State – 3; West Virginia State – 2; West Alabama – 2.
NABC Top 25 Poll – Final
(March 8, 2022) – Final
poll is done before NCAA Tournament
| Rank | School | Record | Pts | Prev |
| 1 | Nova Southeastern (16) | 28-0 | 400 | 1 |
| 2 | West Liberty | 29-2 | 381 | 2 |
| 3 | Indiana | 29-2 | 370 | 3 |
| 4 | Queens (NC) | 28-3 | 331 | 9 |
| 5 | Augusta | 28-3 | 328 | 10 |
| 6 | Augustana | 24-3 | 296 | 5 |
| 7 | Lubbock Christian | 24-3 | 288 | 4 |
| 8 | Cal State San Bernardino | 23-3 | 272 | 6 |
| 9 | Cal State San Marcos | 20-4 | 260 | 14 |
| 10 | Northwest Missouri State | 28-5 | 249 | 15 |
| 11 | UNC Pembroke | 26-3 | 224 | 8 |
| 12 | Lincoln Memorial | 25-4 | 214 | 7 |
| 13 | Minnesota Duluth | 25-5 | 203 | 12 |
| 14 | Bentley | 22-4 | 194 | 16 |
| 15 | Chico State | 19-4 | 186 | 11 |
| 16 | West Texas A&M | 28-6 | 172 | 18 |
| 17 | Upper Iowa | 25-5 | 147 | 13 |
| 18 | Central Oklahoma | 24-6 | 128 | 17 |
| 19 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 26-4 | 110 | 20 |
| 20 | Walsh | 22-6 | 86 | NR |
| 21 | Miles | 24-4 | 69 | 20 |
| 22 | Black Hills State | 22-7 | 52 | NR |
| 23 | Mercyhurst | 24-6 | 50 | 22 |
| 24 | Fairmont State | 23-7 | 46 | 23 |
| 25 | Barry | 20-8 | 29 | NR |
Receiving Votes: Fort Hays State 23, West Alabama 16, Flagler 14, Ferris State 12, Point Loma 5, Washburn 5, Embry-Riddle 3, Hillsdale 3, Missouri-St. Louis 2, MSU Moorhead 2, California 1, Franklin Pierce 1.