Three University of Notre Dame men’s basketball student-athletes have earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team Honors, as announced by the league on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr., along with seniors Nate Laszewski and Cormac Ryan were among 37 ACC student-athletes named to the team. Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.
Atkinson Jr. finished off the 2021-22 season averaging 12. 5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game to earn All-ACC Honorable Mention honors. He earned ACC Player of the Week honors on February 7, 2022, after a dominating performance at Miami on February 2 with 23 points and 11 rebounds while following up with a 15-point, 10-rebound effort against NC State. The West Palm Beach, Florida, native also played a huge role in Notre Dame’s thrilling double-overtime victory over Rutgers in the NCAA First Four, pouring in a game-high 26 points, connecting on 13-of-15 shots and scoring the game-winning points with a rebound and put back with 1.4 left in the second extra session.
Laszewski built upon his reputation as one of the most dependable three-point shooters in the country in 2021-22 while averaging 9.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He finished 14th in the country in three point shooting (.456) and was just one of four players in Division I men’s basketball to shoot over .450 from behind the arch and haul down over 200 rebounds this season. The Jupiter, Florida, native became the 67th Notre Dame player to surpass 1,000 points in a career against Duke.
Ryan finished the 2021-22 season playing the best and most consistent basketball of his career. Entering the starting lineup for the season’s final 12 games, Ryan averaged 13.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting .561 from the field and .509 from three-point range over those dozen games. No performance was more memorable than Ryan’s 29-point effort against Alabama in the first round of the NCAA tournament when the New York, New York, native connected on a Notre Dame NCAA game record seven three point field goals.