ANGOLA, Ind. – Senior guard Cortez Garland has been named Fifth Team All-American by D3hoops.com. Garland was named Second Team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and a Second Team All-Region selection by D3hoops.com last week and is now the first All-American selection from the men's basketball program since the 2020-21 season.
The Detroit, Michigan native led the team in scoring against Hampden-Sydney College in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament Championship game with 22 points, 18 of which came in the second half. Garland scored nine points in the midst of an 11-2 run to start the second period and take the lead for the remainder of the contest. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament Championship for his performance in both the Hampden-Sydney game and his 12 points in the Semifinal game versus Trinity (Conn.) College.
His late game heroics in the Sectional Final game allowed the Thunder to continue on their journey to an NCAA National Championship. Garland buried a game-winner against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville to win in overtime, 88-86. In the NCAA Tournament, Garland averaged 19.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
On the year, Garland led the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game. He started all 33 games and played a team-high 33.5 minutes per game. He also averaged 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game this season and shot 44.6% from the field, 33.9% from three and 78.0% from the free throw line.
At the national level, Garland helped pace a Trine defense that was 5th in steals per game (11.8), 11th in turnover margin (+5.0) and 13th in turnovers forced per game (17.7). He was inside the top-100 in the country in most free throws (19th), points scored (47th), steals per game (92nd) and field goals (95th).