Elliot Cadeau

Elliot Valentin Cadeau (born September 4, 2004) is an American-Swedish college basketball player for the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference. He was an NCAA national champion and the Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 2026. Cadeau previously played for the North Carolina Tar Heels for his first two seasons. He was born in the United States, but represents Sweden internationally. After several years representing Sweden at the youth level, he made his senior national team debut in 2023.

Early life Cadeau was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in West Orange, New Jersey. His father, James, is Haitian while his mother, Michelle, is Swedish, hailing from Skåne. As a child he loved football and was a fan of the New York Jets, but he was discouraged from playing the sport because his mother thought it was too dangerous, and suggested he try out for a basketball team instead.

Cadeau attended The Patrick School in Hillside, New Jersey, for seventh and eighth grade. During this time he helped his club team, Sports U/Team IZOD, win the 2019 Under Armour Nationals.

High school career Cadeau began his high school career at Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, New Jersey. He served as the Crusaders' starting point guard during his freshman season, which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cadeau averaged 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, leading his team to a 7–2 record. He was named to the MaxPreps Freshman All-American First Team. Cadeau missed his entire sophomore season due to a high ankle sprain he suffered during a scrimmage against Gill St. Bernard's School in December 2021.

Cadeau played AAU basketball for the New Heights Lightning on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) circuit. and earned All-EYBL Third Team honors in 2022.

Recruiting Before his reclassification, Cadeau was widely regarded as the top point guard in the class of 2024. Even after reclassifying to the 2023 class, he was a unanimous five-star recruit.

In September 2022, Cadeau took his first official visit to Texas Tech, which he described as his dream school growing up. This was followed by a visit to North Carolina the following month. On December 28, 2022, Cadeau committed to coach Hubert Davis of North Carolina.

He made his reclassification official on May 30, 2023, after weeks of speculation, in part due to his stellar play in the GEICO Nationals and on the EYBL circuit.

College career North Carolina

Cadeau enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2023 and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Preseason Freshman of the year. On February 10, 2024, he scored a career-high 19 points with eight assists against Miami. Cadeau finished his freshman season averaging 7.3 points and 4.1 assists per game. He was selected to the ACC All-Freshman Team.

As a sophomore, Cadeau averaged 9.4 points per game and was second in the ACC with 6.2 assists per game. On January 21, 2025, he scored 14 points with a then career-high 13 assists against Wake Forest.

Michigan On March 31, 2025, Cadeau transferred to the University of Michigan to play for head coach Dusty May. On November 3 against Oakland, Cadeau led the 2025–26 Wolverines with a career-high 14 assists in his debut; the most in any game for a Wolverine since Mike Smith in 2021. On November 11 against Wake Forest, he followed his debut with 17 points, a career-high eight rebounds, and seven assists. Following the regular season he was an All-Big Ten honorable mention by the media. In the 2026 NCAA tournament, he was named to the Midwest All-Region team, leading Michigan to the Final Four. He had at least seven assists in each of the first four games of the tournament and surpassed 1,000 career points in the process. After Michigan won the 2026 national championship, Cadeau was named the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

On April 24, after signing a deal to return to Michigan as a senior, Cadeau declared for the 2026 NBA draft, while maintaining his NCAA eligibility through the draft process. On May 16, he withdrew from the draft, using the process as a learning experience for the future.

National team career Junior teams Cadeau played a tournament in Sweden with his middle school team and caught the attention of the country's national team coaches when they discovered he had Swedish heritage. Cadeau was subsequently called up to the national under-16 team ahead of the 2020 Baltic Sea Basketball Cup held in Estonia, where he helped Sweden win the gold medal.

Cadeau led the national under-18 team to a gold medal at the 2021 Under-18 Nordic Championships. He was unable to repeat this feat at the following year's edition, where Sweden finished fourth. In the opening game against Estonia, Cadeau recorded 40 points, seven rebounds and five steals. He was named the MVP of the tournament.

Cadeau helped Sweden win a gold medal at the 2022 FIBA U18 European Championship Division B in Romania, averaging 21.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. He recorded 36 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals in the championship game victory against Denmark, earning tournament MVP honors.

Senior team

Cadeau received his first call-up to the senior national team in November 2021 ahead of a pair of FIBA World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Slovenia. and he recorded four points and one steal in seven minutes of play.

Career statistics

College

Personal life Cadeau comes from an athletic family. His father was an avid tennis player while his older brother, Justin, played college tennis at Howard. Justin is also a popular Twitch streamer who broadcasts under the pseudonym "Saucekill", with Elliot frequently appearing as a guest on his streams. Cadeau also has congenital hearing loss and is deaf in his right ear. Cadeau is also a part-time music producer for artists, specifically those in the underground rap scene, he goes under the pseudonym ripsodivine.

Social media and endorsements On January 1, 2022, Cadeau became the first high school basketball player to sign with Roc Nation Sports for Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) representation.

In April 2022, he signed an endorsement deal with Swedish vitamin drink Vitamin Well, becoming the first American high school athlete to sign an international NIL deal. He also has deals with Leaf Trading Cards, Wilson Sporting Goods, and Swedish company Flowlife. In addition, he has his own clothing line called Elliot Cadeau Wear.