Another basketball season is officially in the books. Two weeks after being in Champaign for a few days, the season ended with a weekend in Danville.
We had yet another historic season in the JUCO world for the Midwest/Central Region. The Division I Tournament crowned a Region XXIV team, and the Division II Tournament crowned a second consecutive Region IV team. On top of that, Region IV's representative in Division III went on a great run through their regional and district championships, and into the tournament.
With all that has happened in these playoffs, it caused major shakeups for my final rankings. There will be raised eyebrows with some of the programs that are on and off the list.
Here are my final rankings for Regions IV and XXIV:
The Volunteers win the Division I National Championship in Hutchinson, beating national power Northwest Florida State 73-70. They also finish with the best overall record between the two regions (33-2), including a 31-game winning streak to end the season after a 2-2 start.
The Stormers win the Division II National Championship in Danville, beating Macomb 86-65. Mason Johnson and Mikale Stevenson both had great tournaments with Johnson averaging 20.3 points and 8.3 rebounds, and Stevenson averaging 13.8 points and 7.5 assists. Johnson would take home tournament MVP honors. The Stormers ended the season on a 10 game winning streak.
The Jaguars took 3rd place in the Division II National Tournament, losing in the semifinal to eventual runner-up Macomband beating SUNY Orange County in the 3rd place game. Prior to their semifinal loss, the Jaguars had won 13 in a row, including a 77-64 win over South Suburban and an 83-78 quarterfinal win over Waubonsee.
The Blazers finish the season with 30 wins and 6 losses; 3 losses to National champion #1 John A. Logan, including the Regional Final. Won their first two games of the Division I Tournament in Hutchinson, including a 75-70 upset win in the 2nd round over 2-seed Southern Idaho, but lost in the quarterfinal to eventual runner-up 7-seed Northwest Florida State.
It was quite a run for the Chiefs. They upset previously ranked South Suburban in the Regional semifinal, and defeated Bryant & Stratton to advance to the Division II National Tournament. They lost to #3 Danville Area in the quarterfinal, and to 1-seed Davidson-Davie in the 5th place semifinal.
The Cougars finished the regular season strong and won th regional championship, upsetting #7 Triton in the final. They lost in the Midwest District Championship to Moberly Area. In the playoffs, Curie graduate Ramean Hinton averaged 15.8 points and 14 rebounds.
The Trojans faced #6 Highland three times. They beat the Cougars in the two regular season meetings, but their dreams at another final four run came to an end in the Regional final which the Cougars won 73-70.
The Bobcats lost in the Regional final to #5 Waubonsee after playoff wins against Morton and Prairie State. With 26 wins on the season it is a new school record, breaking the previous mark of 25 set in the 2018-19 season when they went 25-8.
The Panthers lost in the Regional final to eventual Division II National champion Milwaukee Area Technical College. Playoff wins over Elgin (91-73) and previously ranked Moraine Valley (84-81).
The Chaparrals had quite the roller coaster ride. They finished the regular season with a modest 17-13 record, but took off in the playoffs. Defeated Madison in the Regional final, and Lorain County in the Great Lakes District Championship before eventually taking 6th place in the Division III National Tournament.
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