Kidder Provides Recruiting Update

Ottumwa -- Three players who played in high school state championship games last year are included in Indian Hills Community College basketball coach Jeff Kidder’s 2010 recruiting class. Those three athletes, along with a Division I transfer and a player from the Chicago area, are among the recruits announced by coach Kidder.

The signees include Riley Stuve, a member of the Ames High School team that finished an undefeated season by winning the Iowa Class 4-A state title in March. The 6-5 Stuve was the third-leading scorer for the Little Cyclones.

Kidder said, “Riley has been part of a winning culture at Ames and he’ll bring that winning attitude to Indian Hills. He was a starter on a team that was very special. He can really shoot the ball and will bring a level of toughness to his position.”

Trey Starks led Hillcrest High School in Springfield, Missouri to a state championship, the school’s first in 26 years, and he’s headed to IHCC this fall. Starks, a 5-11 point guard, scored 22 points in the state title game and earned first-team all-state honors as a senior.

Starks gained national attention for an alley-oop dunk he had in the championship game, a play that was shown on ESPN SportsCenter and has gotten thousands of views on YouTube.

“Trey is an outstanding player and will impact his position right away,” said Kidder. “He can play both point guard and shooting guard and will develop into an elite player before his IHCC career is done.”

The third title game participant to sign with Indian Hills is Latroy Taylor, a guard from Lew Wallace High School in Gary, Indiana. Lew Wallace lost in overtime in the championship game. Taylor is a lightning-quick 6-2 guard who averaged 19 points a game as a senior with a high game of 37.

“Latroy is a powerful guard who can take over a game on both ends of the floor,” said the IHCC coach. “He can score and defend with a great deal of passion. Latroy comes from a winning high school program. He will lead by example and his effort will be contagious around his teammates.”
Jerome Jones played last year at Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference and will transfer to IHCC this fall. Jones is 6-5 and was a three-year standout at Miller Career Academy in St. Louis. He led his squad to its first-ever trip to the Missouri Class 4 final four as a senior, averaging 24 points a game with a high game of 65 points. Jones played in 27 games at the D-I level last year.

Kidder said, “Jerome is an explosive forward who can play inside or outside. He’s a great kid who plays with a chip on his shoulder. He will provide strong leadership and is highly motivated to have a great season for the Warriors.”

The fifth recruit announced by Kidder is D.J. Bennett, a 6-9 center from Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Hills, Illinois. Bennett averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds as a senior.

“D.J. is very athletic with great hands,” said Kidder. “He was highly recruited by a number of Division I programs and has loads of potential. The hardest position to recruit with results is the center position and we feel we got a very good one in D.J.”

In addition to the five incoming players, Kidder will welcome back five players from last year’s team that went 25-8 and won the regular season region title. Dijon Farr will return for his sophomore campaign along with Brian Wilson, Bruno Ferreira, Derrick Hill and Chad Dillard.

Farr led the Warriors in scoring as a freshman at 11.9 points a game and was named second-team all-region. Ferreira was an honorable mention all-league choice and IHCC’s leading rebounder at 5.2 boards a game. Wilson scored as many as 20 points in a game and Hill had a 27-point game.

Coach Kidder hopes to round out his recruiting class before the start of classes at the end of the month.