Ottumwa, IA – A new era of Indian Hills Basketball tips off on Friday night as the Warriors host the 2024 Meridian Credit Union Classic at the Hellyer Center.

DETAILS: Meridian Credit Union Classic

Friday, November 1 – Saturday, November 2

Ottumwa, IA  |  Hellyer Center

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Live Stats, Results, Box Scores, Streaming

TOURNAMENT PROGRAM: Meridian Credit Union Classic

WATCH LIVE: GoHillsTV

TICKETS: Buy Online

The Cole Dewey era of Indian Hills Basketball opens up this weekend as the No. 11 nationally ranked Indian Hills Men's Basketball squad tips-off the 2024-25 campaign with the two-day, four-team Meridian Credit Union Classic at the Hellyer Center.

STARTING FIVE

• The Warriors open the new year ranked No. 11 in the preseason NJCAA National Poll - NJCAA DI Men's Basketball Poll
• Indian Hills has won 38 consecutive home openers dating back to the opening of the Hellyer Center in 1986.
• The Warriors are 611-78 (.887) all-time at the Hellyer Center.
• Two sophomores return from last year's Final Four run for the Warriors - William Beugre-Kassi and Jamal Entezami
• Friday marks the first day of competition for men's basketball teams around the nation with 91 total NJCAA DI Men's Basketball games tipping off.

DEWEY'S NOTES

Cole Dewey returns to the Hellyer Center for his head coaching debut with the Warriors after previously serving as an assistant at Indian Hills from 2015-18.

"This is going to be a great opening weekend. We've got two really good teams in Cloud County and Butler. Our guys have been preparing for the start of the season for months now and have shown in practice that they are ready to go. This last month we've had plenty of good tests against quality opponents in some of the best jamborees in the country. Those jamborees have helped our guys understand their roles and learn to battle through adversity together. I'm really excited to see the energy and effort they bring to the floor this weekend."

SCOUTING THE THUNDERBIRDS

Cloud County returns to the Hellyer Center for the third consecutive season.

• The Thunderbirds are coming off a 21-11 record from a year ago after reaching the NJCAA Region 6 Quarterfinal round.
• Cloud County returns just one member from last year's squad in Roy Aviv in addition to two sophomore transfers in Fallou Koite (Wheeling Univesity) and Jiovanny Garcia (Triton College)
• Cloud County was picked to finish eighth in the 13-team preseason Division I Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference poll.
• The Thunderbirds head into the new year under the direction of first-year head coach Kyle Pugh, a former assistant at Hutchinson.
• Indian Hills and Cloud County have squared off just twice before, with both contests occurring since 2022. The Warriors defeated the Thunderbirds 76-63 last season and 79-68 in 2022.
• Cloud County will match up with Sauk Valley at 4:30 PM on Saturday night.

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES

Indian Hills and Butler will close out the 2024 Meridian Credit Union Classic Saturday night with the weekend finale.

• The Grizzlies' 2024-25 roster features a revamped look from last year's 23-9 squad with 16 new faces to the team.
• Butler added sophomore transfers Russell Branch (Hutchinson, Bubba Leavell (Highland), Kaeson Fisher-Brown (Newman), Jojo Adeoye (Hutchinson), and Jerimiyah Smith (Mt. San Antonio)
• Butler welcomes first-year head coach Eric Nitsche to the bench. Nitsche joins the Grizzlies following three seasons as the assistant coach at Hutchinson.
• Indian Hills and Butler have squared off just twice before with both games at the Hellyer Center - a 77-68 win for the Grizzlies in 2021 and a 103-67 for the Warriors in 2018.
• Butler opens the weekend against Sauk Valley on Friday night at 4:30 PM.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Warriors' homestand continues next weekend with the RV & Powersports Classic November 8-9 at the Hellyer Center. Indian Hills will take on Pratt Community College (KS) on Friday night and Tyler Junior College (TX) on Saturday night.

HOW TO WATCH

As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of Indian Hills men's basketball games, both home and on the road. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:

• Facebook: visit www.facebook.com/gohillstv
• GoHillsTV App: Download the GoHillsTV app on your android or ios device
• Website: https://www.gohillstv.com/browse to catch all live and archived information
• Roku Streaming Device (new):  Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!

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