The North Central Missouri College basketball teams are days away from opening the 2024-2025 seasons, with the Lady Pirates ranked #12 in the preseason NJCAA Division Two national poll, while the Pirate men will start the year at #5 in the country.
Both NCMC teams benefitted from the NJCAA’s new postseason rules last year, as the Lady Pirates reached the national tournament in Joplin, and the Pirates advanced to nationals in Danville, Illinois, despite neither team falling short of a district championship. Four teams in the women’s tournament and four teams in the men’s event, including NCMC, earned at-large berths into the national event.
Following October trips to Ames, Iowa; Fayette, Missouri; Overland Park, Kansas; and Moberly, Missouri for jamboree and exhibition action, the Pirate men will play in their regular season opener this Friday night (November 1st) at 6 o’clock, hosting the Kansas Christian College junior varsity at the Ketcham Community Center in Trenton.
The Lady Pirates will wait through the weekend before beginning their season, as NCMC will travel to Highland, Kansas to play the Highland C.C. Scotties on Tuesday night, November 5th at 5:30. The Pirate men will take on the Scotties at 7:30 that night in their season game of the season. Tuesday night’s doubleheader from Ben Allen Fieldhouse in Highland will be carried live on KGOZ FM 101.7, kttnsports.com, and KGOZ on the Tune-In Radio app.
