After a long run as an assistant coach with the Augie men's basketball team, the 2021-22 season marked the first as leader of the program for first-year head coach Tom Jessee. Despite a new-look coaching staff, the young Vikings team did not have long before diving into their highly-competitive schedule, beginning the year with three teams either ranked or receiving votes in the top 25 poll.

Following a road loss to No. 17 UW-Oshkosh to begin the year, the Vikings returned to the Carver Center for their home opener against the No. 16 ranked Dubuque Spartans. In front of a packed home crowd, Augie charged back from an early deficit and eventually pulled ahead late in the first half to take a lead into the break. With around five minutes remaining, the Vikings cushioned their margin to double figures and ran away with a 16-point victory for their first of the season. Augustana answered the big win with another four days later, defeating St. Mary's (Minn.) in overtime.

The Vikings went 2-2 over the course of their next four non-conference matchups before diving into CCIW action. Over that span, they picked up a road win over Alma before knocking off Illinois College at home. Augie finished the non-conference slate with a perfect record from inside the Carver Center.

Augustana dropped three of their first four conference outings, but responded with a three-game winnings streak around the new year. The back-end of the winning streak included a road victory over No. 10 ranked Wheaton. Trailing by a couple of possessions for most of the game, the Vikings tied the game at 61 before using an 8-1 scoring outburst to pull away down the stretch. The Thunder cut the deficit to two at one point, but free throws and a late defensive stop prevented any final comeback. Dan Carr's dunk with seconds left sealed the 79-73 victory for Augie.

From the Wheaton game on, the Vikings saw six of their losses in the second half of the season by six points or less, falling to top-five ranked Illinois Wesleyan by just five and six points, as well as two games against North Central that were decided by a combined nine points. Still, Augie found ways to put themselves in the hunt for the CCIW tournament as a big win over Millikin to avenge an earlier-season loss helped jumpstart their second time through the conference. The Vikings earned wins in two of their final four games, which included two monster individual efforts in the victories over North Park and Carthage that helped clinch them a spot in the postseason. In an 91-60 win over North Park, senior Luke Johnson scored a career-high 28 points to lead Augie. A week later, Carr's 26-point, 24-rebound night against Carthage put them in prime position to earn the sixth and final seed in the CCIW tournament. The 24 rebounds is good for fourth all-time in a single game and is a gym record at Carthage.

Augustana did grab the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, making it the 17th straight season the Vikings have competed in it. They are the only team to have participated in the postseason tournament every single season. Augie fell to No. 3 seeded and eventual national runner-up, Elmhurst, in the opening round to end the Vikings' season with an 11-15 record. 

A total of eight freshmen saw playing time this season for the Vikings and nine underclassmen in total. Freshman Matt Hawkins led the young group with 18 minutes a game on the court and wsa third on the team in field goal percentage at 47 percent. Augie had two double-digit scorers in 2021-22, led by Carr's 14.7 and Johnson's 11.8 points per game. Carr ended the season averaging 13.4 rebounds per contest, which ties a shool record for a single season. He was later named CCIW First Team All-Conference and was named to the D3Hoops.com All-Region list.

The team just recently returned from a summer trip to Greece, where they went 3-1 against local clubs. A day-by-day blog of their trip can be found here.

The Vikings have officially announced their incoming 2022 class, which can be found here.

2021-22 AUGUSTANA MEN'S BASKETBALL SUPERLATIVES
CCIW ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS: Dan Carr (First Team)
CCIW Academic All-Conference: Sam Allen, Dan Carr, Brett David, Carter Duwa, Anthony Giliberto, Matt Hanushewsky, Nate Ortiz
D3Hoops.com All-Region: Dan Carr (Second Team)

TEAM AWARDS

Most Outstanding Player - Dan Carr
Best Rebounder - Dan Carr
Best Defender - Nate Ortiz