News - Valley's Men's Basketball Team Qualifies for National Championship

Valley's Men's Basketball Team Qualifies for National Championship

Cougars Among Four Colleges Selected as At-Large Teams Due to Stellar Records

Kalamazoo Valley Community College's men's basketball team is headed to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Men's Basketball Championship.

The announcement of the team qualifying for the national tournament was made the afternoon of Tuesday, March 11 by the National Junior College Athletic Association. The last time the men's basketball team made an appearance in the tournament was in March 2011.

The Cougars have been seeded seventh in the tournament with their first matchup being on Tuesday, March 18, at 6 p.m. in Danville, Illinois, against the No. 10 seed, Bryant & Stratton College (Wisconsin). The tournament runs through March 22.

The development is part of a steady stream of good news for the team:

  • On March 1, the Cougars won the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) State Championship before an audience of over 700 fans at the college's Texas Township Campus. They beat Macomb Community College, 93-85. It is the third consecutive year that the men's basketball team has been the state champions.
  • On Feb. 26, the Cougars ended their season as the conference champs! They finished the season at Glen Oaks Community College winning, 103-98, proudly concluding with a 14-0 record in the MCCAA Western Conference (an overall record of 28-1). They rank No. 1 in the conference, and No. 7 in the country among Division II community colleges.

The team qualified for the national tournament as an at-large participant, despite losing to Henry Ford Community College in the Great Lakes District Tournament Final on March 8.

Historically, the tournament is comprised of 16 teams who won their respective district tournaments. However, the at-large category was created beginning in the 2023-24 season, allowing for four additional teams to petition to compete. Each school seeking an at-large bid must submit its season statistics and narrative detailing the high points of the season. A selection committee of nine NJCAA members (typically athletic directors) from across the country review this information and determine the at-large participants.

Keep up with the scores at athletics.kvcc.edu.