Men’s basketball receives votes in final poll

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.

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