The IU Kokomo Men’s Basketball team opened the 2023-24 season on October 27-28, as they traveled to University Park in Illinois for the Governers State Classic. The teams there were Governers State, IU Kokomo, #19 William Penn, and East-West University.   

The Cougars are coming off a season in which they made the NAIA national tournament, earning an at-large bid by the NAIA committee as a 12 seed to play the five seed, Kansas Wesleyan, in a game they ended up losing by double digits. The Cougars are coming off a resume-building win by knocking off the 19 nationally ranked team, William Penn, a team who went to the Sweet 16 in the NAIA Tournament a year ago. Hunter Jackson, Noah Harris, Ty Wills, Chris Chinn, R.J. Ogelsby, Julien Hunter, and Dell DeMyers are some of the returning players from last year’s tournament team. The Cougars added a couple of transfers that may be huge additions down the road, adding Max Newman from St. Francis and Jacksen Harre from Kaskaskia College, as they try to replace Hunter White, Darian Porch, Xavier Hines, and Zach Reinhart.  

The goal is to be to go back to the NAIA tournament and win the River States Conference (RSC) title, especially with how many veterans they are bringing back and how the team has performed year in and year out.  

The big question is if they can improve on the momentum from last year and win some games in the NAIA tournament, as they did in 2021-22, when they went to the Sweet 16, knocking off the one seed, William Penn, coincidentally. So far this year, the Cougars are off to a 2-0 start, beating Governers State in the opener and William Penn, to win the Governers State Classic it seems likely that they are one of the best teams in the nation and could use that momentum into March if they are clicking on all cylinders.  

The transfer, Max Newman made an instant impact in the Governers State Classic, dropping two double-doubles (double-digit points and rebounds) against Governors State and William Penn. He also led the Cougars in points against William Penn with 22. Evan Kretz and Noah Harris also made some instant impacts on the young season, with Kretz leading the Cougars in scoring against Governors State with 24 points and Harris scoring 17 against Governor State.  

The Cougars look to build on a strong start as they take on the rest of their competition this season.