KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After crowning the 84th NAIA Men’s Basketball National Champion on Tuesday, the NAIA announced its selections of the 2021-22 NAIA Men’s Basketball All-America Teams.
Zach Wrightsil of Loyola (La.) was named the NAIA National Player of the Year after helping guide the Wolf Pack to their second NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship in team history. Loyola head coach Stacy Hollowell was named the NAIA National Coach of the Year after leading his team to a red banner and a 37-1 record.
Briar Cliff men’s basketball’s Jaden Kleinhesselink capped off his 2021-22 season Thursday with All-American honors. Kleinhesselink was named an honorable mention NAIA All-American.
Kleinhesselink guided the Chargers to the program’s third GPAC Regular Season Championship and to the team’s 25th appearance at the NAIA National Tournament. The Chargers were last at the national tournament in 2018-19 season, which was Kleinhesselink’s freshman season at the Cliff.
Kleinhesselink started in all 31 games for the Cliff and averaged 12.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He scored in double-figures in 21 games and poured in over 20 points five times. He scored a season high 24 points in a win over Dakota Wesleyan when he went 11-for-20 from the field with five boards and three assists. He became the 46th member of the BC men’s basketball 1,000-point club and sits 25th in career points with 1,340.
In 11 games against teams ranked inside the top-25 or receiving votes, Kleinhesselink averaged 15.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest. He shot 57.4% from the field and 51.0% from deep with 25 3-pointers.
Kleinhesselink is a four-time all-GPAC player and was named to the all-conference first team this season. He becomes the fourth All-American under head coach Mark Svagera, joining Jay Wolfe, Erich Erdman and Jackson Lamb.
Two Northwestern College men’s basketball players were tabbed All-American performers by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) for their performances on the court this season, the national office announced this morning. Alex Van Kalsbeek was named a Second Team All-American and Trent Hilbrands garnered Honorable Mention honors.
Both Van Kalsbeek and Hilbrands were First Team All-Conference players this season, marking back-to-back seasons the duo was named First Team performers.
The sophomore sat seventh in the NAIA this season averaging 23.2 points per game, which sat second in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). One of four GPAC athletes to shoot above 60% from the floor on the year, Van Kalsbeek (So., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) sat third in the conference with a 64.5% mark. The First Team All-GPAC performer achieved this feat averaging 35.7 minutes per game, the second-most minutes on the team this season.
He was one of two Raiders to snag 200+ rebounds with his team-leading 254 boards, including a second-best 40 offensive rebounds. On the year, he averaged 7.9 rebounds per game which sat tied for fourth in the conference. Additionally, he sat second on the team in assists with 112, while blocking a team-high 19 shots.
For the second straight season, the Orange City native is garnering All-American accolades for the Raiders. His Second Team honors this season improves upon his Third Team honors last season.
A constant threat from deep, the 40% 3-point shooter Hilbrands (Sr., Remsen, Iowa/Le Mars Community) collected NAIA Honorable Mention All-American honors. The Remsen, Iowa native was second on the team in scoring at 18.1 points per game. He also dished out 54 assists and recorded 13 steals. The senior also saw the most playing time of any Raider, averaging just over 37 minutes per game.
Hilbrands concludes a phenomenal career in a Red Raider uniform, moving up to sixth all-time in scoring (2,132 points), 23rd in program history in assists (273), and second all-time in made 3-point baskets (339).
Hilbrands is earning his third-career All-American accolades with all three being Honorable Mention honors for the Remsen, Iowa native.
The 2021-22 season marks the sixth straight season that head coach Kris Korver has produced an NAIA All-American performer. In his career at Northwestern, the two honorees bring Korver’s total to 30 All-Americans he has coached.
Dordt men’s basketball’s Bryce Coppock earned honorable mention accolades. Coppock, a sophomore from Hawarden, started all 31 games for the Defenders and had a team high 18.9 points per game in the 2021-22 season and helped lead Dordt to a 20-11 record and NAIA Tournament appearance. He shot .461 from the field, .362 from beyond the arc, and .840 from the free throw line. Coppock was second on the team in total rebounds (130) second in steals (31) and second in assists (73).
FIRST TEAM
| Name | School | Position | Class | Hometown |
| Jaylon Scott ^ | Bethel (Kan.) | G | Sr. | Allen, Texas |
| Jovan Sljivancanin & | Carroll (Mont.) | F | Sr. | Belgrade, Serbia |
| Matt Simpson | Florida College | G | Sr. | Plant City, Fla. |
| Seth Maxwell * | Indiana Wesleyan | C | Sr. | Clark Summit, Pa. |
| Mason Walters ^ | Jamestown (N.D.) | F | Jr. | Jamestown, N.D. |
| Zach Wrightsil & | Loyola (La.) | G | Sr. | Prosper, Texas |
| Alex Gross & | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | C | Sr. | Hope, Ind. |
| Cameron Hines & | Science & Arts (Okla.) | G | Sr. | Ft. Cobb, Okla. |
| Riley Minix | Southeastern (Fla.) | F | Jr. | Vero Beach, Fla. |
| Ryan Batte | Thomas More (Ky.) | C | Jr. | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Cash Williams | William Jessup (Calif.) | G | Jr. | Fresno, Calif. |
| Kevion Blaylock ^ | William Penn (Iowa) | F | Sr. | Houston, Texas |
SECOND TEAM
| Name | School | Position | Class | Hometown |
| Angelo Johnson * | Arizona Christian | G | Jr. | Melbourne, Fla. |
| Carter Kent | Concordia (Neb.) | G | Sr. | Crete, Neb. |
| Desean Hampton | IU Kokomo (Ind.) | F | Sr. | Speedway, Ind. |
| Kae’ron Baker | Louisiana Christian | G | Sr. | Navasota, Texas |
| Myles Burns * | Loyola (La.) | G | Sr. | Houston, Texas |
| Leondre Washington % | LSU Shreveport (La.) | G | Sr. | Englewood, N.J. |
| Sindou Diallo * | Montana Tech | PG | Sr. | Tacoma, Wash. |
| Alex Van Kalsbeek % | Northwestern (Iowa) | F | So. | Orange City, Iowa |
| Antwaan Cushingberry % | Saint Francis (Ind.) | G | Jr. | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| Cevin Clark | Southwestern (Kan.) | G | So. | Arkansas City, Kan. |
| Darryl Baker * | Talladega (Ala.) | G | Sr. | Jeffersonville, Ind. |
| Karmari Newman * | William Penn (Iowa) | G | Sr. | Detroit, Mich. |
THIRD TEAM
| Name | School | Position | Class | Hometown |
| Shamrock Campbell * | Carroll (Mont.) | PG | Sr. | Spokane, Wash. |
| Jonathan Brown | Central Methodist (Mo.) | G | So. | London, England |
| Ricardo Time | College of Idaho | G | Sr. | Palm Beach, Fla. |
| Christian Rodriguez | Cornerstone (Mich.) | G | Sr. | Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| CJ Hines & | Faulkner (Ala.) | PG | Fr. | Atlanta, Ga. |
| Kortland Martin * | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | G | Sr. | Humbolt, Tenn. |
| Dylan Allen | IU South Bend (Ind.) | G | Sr. | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| Jeff Boyd | LSU Shreveport (La.) | G | Sr. | Chicago, Ill. |
| Christian Stewart | Marian (Ind.) | G | Sr. | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| Jaden Lietzke | Oklahoma Wesleyan | F | Fr. | Owasso, Okla. |
| Nykolas Mason | SAGU (Texas) | G | Sr. | Frisco, Texas |
| Markelle Turner ^ | Union (Ky.) | G | So. | Barbourville, Ky. |
^ 2021 1st Team AA & 2021 2nd Team AA % 2021 3rd Team AA * 2021 Honorable Mention
HONORABLE MENTIONS
| Name | School | Position | Class | Hometown |
| Eric Klekas | Ave Maria (Fla.) | G | 5th Yr. | Elko, Nev. |
| Eric Pierce | Bellevue (Neb.) | G | Sr. | Oceanside, Calif. |
| Soloman Clayton | Bethany (Kan.) | F | Jr. | Fort Dodge, Iowa |
| Cliff Byrd II | Bethel (Kan.) | G | Sr. | Memphis, Texas |
| Jaden Kleinhesselink | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | G | Sr. | Sheldon, Iowa |
| Kelvin Robinson | Central Baptist (Ark.) | G | Sr. | Little Rock, Ark. |
| Tony Burks | Columbia (Mo.) | G | Jr. | St. Louis, Mo. |
| Tavon King | Cumberland (Tenn.) | G | Sr. | Gates, Tenn. |
| Bryce Coppock | Dordt (Iowa) | G | So. | Hawarden, Iowa |
| Phil Malatare | Eastern Oregon | G | Jr. | Arlee, Mont. |
| Cade Coffman | Evangel (Mo.) | F | Sr. | Mountain Grove, Mo. |
| Jalon Perry | Faulkner (Ala.) | G | Sr. | Live Oak. Fla. |
| Chinedu Okonkwo | Florida College | C | Sr. | Samaru, Nigeria |
| Corey Benton | Florida Memorial | G | Sr. | Columbus, Ohio |
| Kyran Jones | Georgetown (Ky.) | F | So. | Bowling Green, Ky. |
| Derrin Boyd | Georgetown (Ky.) | G | Fr. | Princeton, Ky. |
| Frankie Davidson | Grace (Ind.) | F | So. | Fort Wayne, Ind. |
| Ryan Miller | Grand View (Iowa) | G | Sr. | Walker, Iowa |
| Josh Powell-Davis | Hope International (Calif.) | C | Sr. | Oakland, Calif. |
| Zach Goodline | Huntington (Ind.) | G | Jr. | Coloma, Mich. |
| Trequan Spivey | IU Kokomo (Ind.) | G | Sr. | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| Jared Johnson | IU Northwest (Ind.) | F | Jr. | Chicago Heights, Ill. |
| Jun Murdock | Kansas Wesleyan | G | So. | Wichita, Kan. |
| Brandon Davis | Loyola (La.) | G | So. | LaPlace, La. |
| AJ Rainey | LSU Alexandria (La.) | G | Jr. | Gray, La. |
| Mark Mettie | Madonna (Mich.) | F | Sr. | Livonia, Mich. |
| Anthony Brown | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | G | Jr. | Olathe, Kan. |
| John Yeager | Missouri Baptist | G | 5th Yr. | St. Louis, Mo. |
| Mascio McCadney | Montana State Northern | G | Sr. | Detroit, Mich. |
| Caleb Bellach | Montana Tech | G | So. | Manhattan, Mont. |
| Jalen Hodges | Montana Western | F | Sr. | Duluth, Ga. |
| Noah Dunn | Montreat (N.C.) | F | Fr. | Greensboro, N.C. |
| Trent Hillbrands | Northwestern (Iowa) | G | Sr. | Remsen, Iowa |
| Rashaun Coleman | Oklahoma City | G | Sr. | Houston, Texas |
| Tyler Schmidt | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | G | So. | Valparaiso, Ind. |
| Josiah De’laCerda | Ottawa (Ariz.) | F | Jr. | Fresno, Calif. |
| Joshua Kashila | SAGU (Texas) | G | Sr. | Angola, Lunada |
| David Ejah | Saint Francis (Ind.) | F | So. | Fort Wayne, Ind. |
| Stephon Hall | Science & Arts (Okla.) | G | Sr. | Oklahoma City, Okla. |
| Gary Mims | Simpson (Calif.) | F | Jr. | Palatka, Fla. |
| Joshua Evans | St. Xavier (Ill.) | G | Sr. | Dolton, Ill. |
| Londell King | Stillman (Ala.) | F | Sr. | Tallahassee, Fla. |
| Jack Monis | Viterbo (Wis.) | F | Jr. | Oconomowoc, Wis. |
| Joseph Martz | Warner (Fla.) | G | Jr. | Orlando, Fla. |
| Mastadi Pitt | Washington Adventist (Md.) | G | Sr. | Hampton, Va. |
| Myles Corey | William Jessup (Calif.) | G | Fr. | Ontario, California |
| Makye Richard | Xavier (La.) | G | Sr. | Morgan City, La. |
