Valley Men's Basketball Team Wins MCCAA State Championship

Cougars Beat Macomb CC, 93-85, on March 1 at Contest Drawing Over 700 Fans

Kalamazoo Valley Community College's men's basketball team Saturday emerged the 2025 state champions for the Michigan Community College Athletic Association!

Before a crowd of more than 700 fans, the Cougars triumped over Macomb Community College, 93-85, during the March 1 championship hosted at Kalamazoo Valley that was full of exciting, nail-biting play up through the final minutes.

"I am very proud of our men's basketball program's accomplishments by earning the MCCAA champion title," said Athletic Director Russ Panico. "I look forward to continued success later this week at the Great Lakes District Tournament."

This state win comes on the heels of the team finishing its regular season as conference champs - and for the third consecutive year! The win avenges the only loss of the season for the Cougars who lost to Macomb Community College, 75-71, in January.

The team ended the season on Feb. 26 with a 14-0 record in the MCCAA Western Conference, and 28-1 overall. They rank No. 1 in the conference, and No. 7 in the country among Division II community colleges.

The Cougars are guided by Head Coach Jim Horn, who was Coach of the Year in 2024 for the MCCAA Western Conference, due to the team's conference win. The leadership team is rounded out with Josh Ryan, Taureen Wilson and Larry Patrick as assistant coaches.

In addition to earning state and conference champion status, Valley's men's basketball players have qualified for the Great Lakes District Tournament at Mott Community College in Flint, where they will play a semifinal game on March 6 at 6 p.m. against a to be determined opponent.

Should they win their district, they will earn a spot in the National Junior College Athletic Association's Division II National Championship Tournament in Danville, Illinois, scheduled for March 17 - 22. The last time the men's basketball team made an appearance in the National Tournament was in March 2011.

Another point of pride for the Cougars this season is sophomore guard Joey Liedel reached the amazing and rare career college milestone of 1,000 points. Liedel achieved the feat Jan. 4 during a home game against Macomb Community College.

Keep up with the scores and next steps at athletics.kvcc.edu.