Men's Basketball | 10/23/2025 11:44:00 AM

According to a poll of Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference head coaches, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team has been picked to finish ninth in the 2025-26 KJCCC Division I Men's Basketball Predicted Order of Finish Poll. The annual preseason poll was announced on Thursday, October 23 by the conference office.

The T-Birds received 82 points in the poll, including one first place vote. Picked as the preseason favorite is Coffeyville, which collected six first place votes and 162 points. Cowley and Barton both earned 142 points, with Cowley receiving four first place votes and Barton picking up one first place vote. Hutchinson and Butler round out the top five.

Dodge City, which picked up one first place vote, was slotted sixth, followed by Independence and Garden City. Trailing Cloud County and rounding out the poll is Pratt, Colby, Seward County and Fort Hays Tech Northwest.

Cloud County is led by Kyle Pugh, who enters his second year as head coach and welcomes back two All-Conference performers and four returning players for the 2025-2026 season. The T-Birds return sophomores 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. Savane had 13 double-double performances and ranked in the top-10 in the conference in total points, points per game, field-goals made, field-goal percentage, free-throws made, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, rebounds per game, and blocked shots.

Burnette was named Honorable Mention All-KJCCC last year after averaging 12.3 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting and a team-best 45.2 percent mark from three-point range. Burnette also led the team at 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Burnette started 21 of 31 games last year and scored a season-high 31 points in the team's Region 6 Tournament quarterfinal game at No. 14 Barton on March 11, 2025. Burnette ranked second in the conference in three-point percentage and seventh in the conference in total steals with 49.

Akot started 21 games last year, finishing the 2024-2025 campaign with averages of 7.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while ranking third on the team in made three-pointers with 43. Johnson started seven games overall, concluding the year averaging 3.0 points per game on 45.3 percent shooting and 1.2 rebounds per game.

Adding to Cloud County's firepower this season 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.

Cloud County opens the 2025-26 season Friday, October 31 against William Penn University JV at the Meridian Credit Union Classic in Ottumwa, Iowa. It marks the first of two games that weekend to open the year, as the T-Birds will face the host school, No. 13 Indian Hills Community College, on Saturday, November 1.

Last season, Cloud County compiled a 14-18 overall record and a 7-17 mark in KJCCC play. The team drew the No. 11 seed in the 2025 Region 6 Men's Basketball Tournament and advanced to the quarterfinal round after knocking off Colby on the road to earn its third consecutive opening round Region 6 Tournament victory.