Teams Inside the Pod
#1 Northwestern
23-5 Overall
GPAC Regular Season Runners-Up
GPAC Tournament Champions
#9 Overall Seed
Ranks Number 3 in Division I in Total Rebound Defense (29.393)
Ranks Number 4 in Division I in Field Goal Pct (0.537)
Ranks Number 8 in Division I in Total Scoring Offense (2374)
Ranks Number 8 in Division I in Total Assists (465)
Ranks Number 12 in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Pct (0.397)
Ranks Number 16 in Division I in Total Rebound Margin (8.107)
Ranks Number 18 in Division I in Total Total Rebound Offense (1050)
Ranks Number 18 in Division I in Defensive Rebounds per Game (30.571)
Ranks Number 18 in Division I in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.344)
Ranks Number 18 in Division I in Scoring Margin (12.107)
Ranks Number 22 in Division I in Total 3-Pt FG Made (253)
Ranks Number 25 in Division I in Assists per Game (16.607)
Ranks Number 26 in Division I in Free Throw Pct (0.745)
Ranks Number 29 in Division I in Scoring Offense per Game (84.786)
Ranks Number 42 in Division I in Total Blocks (75)
#2 Bethel (KS)
19-6 Overall
KCAC Regular Season Champions
KCAC Tournament Champions
#19 Overall Seed
Ranks Number 10 in Division I in Total Steals (228)
Ranks Number 15 in Division I in Steals per Game (9.120)
Ranks Number 15 in Division I in Total Rebounds per Game (41.800)
Ranks Number 21 in Division I in Total Total Rebound Offense (1045)
Ranks Number 24 in Division I in Field Goal Pct Defense (0.413)
Ranks Number 24 in Division I in Defensive Rebounds per Game (30.080)
Ranks Number 26 in Division I in Total Blocks (88)
Ranks Number 32 in Division I in Total 3-Pt FG Made (225)
Ranks Number 35 in Division I in Total Scoring Offense (2050)
Ranks Number 36 in Division I in Blocks per Game (3.520)
Ranks Number 37 in Division I in Turnover Margin (2.520)
Ranks Number 39 in Division I in Total Assists (361)
Ranks Number 40 in Division I in Scoring Margin (8.400)
Ranks Number 41 in Division I in Offensive Rebounds per Game (11.720)
Ranks Number 47 in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Pct Defense (0.321)
Ranks Number 49 in Division I in Scoring Offense per Game (82.000)
#3 Voorhees
3-8 Overall
Aii Tournament Champions
#47 Overall Seed
No Top 50 Team Rankings
Top Players
#33 Alex Van Kalsbeek 6’6 Fr. – 20.9ppg, 7.21rpg, 2.7apg
2020-21 GPAC Freshman of the Year
2020-21 1st Team All-GPAC
Ranks Number 1 in Division I in Field Goal Pct (0.749)
Ranks Number 5 in Division I in Total Scoring (586)
Ranks Number 27 in Division I in Points per Game (20.929)
Ranks Number 35 in Division I in Total Total Rebounds (202)
Ranks Number 36 in Division I in Total Blocks (30)
Ranks Number 47 in Division I in Offensive Rebounds per Game (2.679)
#4 Trent Hilbrands 6’0 Sr. – 16.3ppg, 3.0rpg, 2.7apg
2x DII All-American
Ranks Number 13 in Division I in Total 3-Pt FG Made (75)
Ranks Number 41 in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Made per Game (2.885)
#1 Jaylon Scott 6’5 Jr. – 15.9ppg, 12rpg, 5.1apg
2020-21 KCAC Player of the Year
Ranks Number 1 in Division I in Defensive Rebounds per Game (9.720)
Ranks Number 2 in Division I in Total Total Rebounds (299)
Ranks Number 3 in Division I in Total Rebounds per Game (11.960)
Ranks Number 13 in Division I in Total Assists (127)
Ranks Number 20 in Division I in Assists per Game (5.080)
Ranks Number 29 in Division I in Total Steals (44)
#13 Clifford Byrd II 6’0 Jr. -14.6ppg, 4.6rpg, 3.7apg
2020-21 KCAC Defensive Player of the Year
Ranks Number 2 in Division I in Total Steals (82)
Ranks Number 3 in Division I in Steals per Game (3.280)
#32 Hector Rosario 6’3 So. – 10.9ppg, 5.5rpg
Points Per Game Leaders
1. Alex Van Kalsbeek NWC 20.93
2. Trent Hilbrands NWC 16.31
3. Jaylon Scott Bethel 15.88
4. Clifford Byrd II Bethel 14.56
5. Craig Sterk NWC 13.93
Rebounds Per Game Leaders
1. Jaylon Scott Bethel 11.96
2. Craig Sterk NWC 7.46
3. Alex Van Kalsbeek NWC 7.21
4. Jay Small NWC 5.5
5. Hector Rosario Vorhees 5.45
Assist Per Game Leaders
1. Jaylon Scott Bethel 5.08
2. Jay Small NWC 4.25
3. Clifford Byrd II Bethel 3.64
4. Alex Van Kalsbeek NWC 3.21
5. Trent Hilbrands NWC 2.65
Matchups
Jaylon Scott leads the Pod in almost every statistical category. He had two triple-doubles to end the regular season and to start the KCAC Tournament. The Threshers will lean on him, but they have plenty of other weapons to go along side of him. This Bethel team is scrappy and plays well together. Very dangerous group if they are hitting shots!
vs.
We won’t even pretend like we know anything about them. They won the Aii Tournament, but we have not watched a single minute of them in their short season.
Alex Van Kalsbeek is possibly the best Freshman in the Country. The hometown kid had a great Freshman year and will look to continue it now in the NAIA National Tournament. While Van Kalsbeek has been a monster for them, it’s the veterans Trent Hilbrands and Jay Small who provide the leadership to this squad.
vs.
Winner of #2 Bethel (KS) vs #3 Voorhees
Again, we won’t pretend like we know much about Voorhees, but we would be surprised if this game with Bethel is remotely close. Kudos to Voorhees for making the long trip out to Wichita, but the Threshers are a major step up in competition and they play too hard to think they will overlook this team.
Bethel and Northwestern on Saturday is going to be a must watch game! Van Kalsbeek vs Scott in a showdown to see who goes to the Sweet 16! You can sign us up for that one!!!!
NAIA Hoops Report top 25
Not that our Top 25 was ever more than a fun thing to look at anyway, but just wanted to reemphasize that this is NOT
NAIA Top Non-Conf Games
One of the articles that, unfortunately, was pulled from this year’s magazine was the Non-Conference games that we have circled to watch! These are simply
NAIA Hoops Report Preseason Magazine
Sorry again for the delay on getting this out! I want to thank you all for your patience as we worked through getting this out
the narrative is changing…
There is still plenty of work to be done, but this offseason certainly has a different feel to it. Division 1’s hitting us up asking
NAIA to D1 – Elijah Malone Sets 1st round of Visits
Every year we see a handful of NAIA players who transfer to NCAA D1 programs. We have actually seen quite a few in the past
NAIA FAB FOUR PREVIEW
And then…there were four. A Fab Four, to say the least, as we have all four 1-seeds making it to the NAIA semifinals for the
