Men's Basketball | 10/16/2025 5:10:00 PM

The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team has announced the program's 2025-2026 schedule with its first game set for October 31 at the Meridian Credit Union Classic in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Cloud County will play a 30-game schedule which includes 24 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) contests and six non-conference contests.

For the second consecutive season, the T-Birds will open play at the Meridian Credit Union Classic, hosted by Indian Hills Community College. Cloud County will take on William Penn University JV at 4:30 pm on October 31 before meeting Indian Hills on November 1 at 3:30 pm.

The following weekend, Cloud County will head to West Burlington, Iowa for the Culver's Midwest Classic, hosted by Southeastern Community College. The T-Birds will take on State Fair Community College on November 7 at 3 pm, followed by a game against Missouri State University - West Plains on November 8 at 12 pm.

The T-Birds will then return to the court on November 12 for their home opener against Kansas Wesleyan University JV before closing out non-conference play at home against North Platte Community College on November 15.

Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play begins on November 19 when Cloud County hosts Seward County Community College, followed by a home conference tilt with Barton Community College on November 22.

The T-Birds will face Cowley College on the road on November 25, before returning home to take on Dodge City Community College on November 29.

Cloud County will open the month of December with a trip to Colby on December 6. After hosting Coffeyville on December 10, the T-Birds will close out the month at Hutchinson on December 13.

The T-Birds will start off the new year hosting Pratt Community College on January 3 in Arley Bryant Gymnasium. Cloud County's next two contests will be on the road, starting with Fort Hays Tech Northwest on January 7 and Garden City Community College on January 10. 

Cloud County concludes the first-half of conference play with home matchups against Butler Community College on January 14 and Independence Community College on January 17.

Conference play continues with road trips to Seward County on January 21 and Barton on January 24. The T-Birds will then face Cowley College at home on January 28, before traveling to Dodge City on January 31.

The final month of the regular season begins with a home game against Colby on February 7. Cloud County will then play at Coffeyville on February 11, host Hutchinson on February 14, and play at Pratt on February 18.

The T-Birds then have a pair of home games, first with Fort Hays Tech Northwest on February 21, followed by Garden City on February 25.

The regular season wraps up with road games against Butler on February 28 and Independence on March 4.

The 2026 NJCAA Region 6 Men's Basketball Division I Tournament is scheduled for March 7-14, while the 2026 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Tournament is scheduled for March 21-28 in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Cloud County head coach Kyle Pugh and the T-Birds are coming off a 14-18 season which featured a first round 2025 Region 6 Tournament win over Colby. The T-Birds return Kuel Akot, Syncere Burnette, Amare Johnson and Elidjah Savane. Savane was a Second Team All-KJCCC selection who led Cloud County in scoring at 16.8 points per game on 55.0 percent shooting to go with a team-high 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

Adding to Cloud County's firepower in 2025-26 are transfers Samuel Akot from Buffalo University, DJ Holloway from Belmont Abbey College, and Manasseh Stackhouse from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The T-Birds also have eleven newcomers in Al Brooks Jr. of Chicago, Illinois, Ikee Brooks of Chicago, Illinois, Kaidan Chatham of Evanston, Illinois, Richard High of Osceola, Arkansas, K'mari Holt of Wichita, Kansas, Ben Nicholson of Great Bend, Kansas, Will Otott of Washington, Kansas, Peyton Retter of Concordia, Kansas, Jack Skocny of Clyde, Kansas, D'ontez Walker of Greenville, South Carolina, and Kam Williams of Greenville, South Carolina.