Elliot Cadeau with his parents, Michelle and James, after Elliot was named Most Outstanding Player as his team, the University of Michigan, defeated the University of Connecticut to win the national championship.
WEST ORANGE — Elliot Cadeau is a national champion.
The West Orange native scored a game-high 19 points and was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player to lead the University of Michigan men’s basketball team to a 69-63 win over UConn in the NCAA Division 1 tournament national championship game on Monday, April 6, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The junior starting point guard also had two assists, three rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes of action. He also made eight-of-nine free throws.
Cadeau made a three-point shot to give Michigan a 48-37 lead with 12:56 left in regulation. It was the team’s first three-point made shot of the game.
The Michigan Wolverines finished with a 37-3 record on the season, winning its second national title and first since 1989. UConn, which was seeking its third national championship in the past four years, finished 34-6.
In the semifinals on Saturday, April 4, Cadeau had 13 points and a game-high 10 assists in the 91-73 win over Arizona.
In all six games in the tournament, Cadeau averaged 12.3 points, 7.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.
Michigan was dominant in the first five games of the tournament, averaging 94.4 points a game and winning by a margin of 21.6 points a game.
This was Cadeau’s first year at Michigan. Cadeau started all 40 games this season, averaging 10.5 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds a game.
Cadeau spent his first two high school years at Bergen Catholic in Oradell, before transferring to Link Academy in Missouri for his junior year. He spent one year at Link Academy, helping Link capture the GEICO Nationals championship.
Cadeau reclassified after his junior year to begin his collegiate career. After two years at North Carolina, Cadeau transferred to Michigan.
Photos Courtesy of Michelle Cadeau
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