Eight Warriors on All-Region Hoops Team

Ottumwa -- Gary Ricks, Jr. and Jameel McKay top a list of eight Indian Hills players who were named to the All-Region 11 basketball team.

Ricks and McKay were the Warriors’ first-team selections on the squad while Roderick Bobbitt, Dustin Hogue and Brandon Spearman were picked for the second team and D.J. Bennett, DeAndray Buckley and Michael Haynes were honorable mention choices.

Playing in all 70 IHCC games over the past two seasons, Ricks was one of the best three-point shooters in school history. He had a total of 170 3-pointers, three shy of the school record held by Dwight Hardy. His 97 3’s this year were five fewer that Hardy’s single-season record.

Ricks averaged in double figures in each season and had a career average of 11.2. He also led the team in free-throw percentage both years. He was named to the All-Region second team as a freshman.

McKay, a freshman and the other first-team choice, led Indian Hills in scoring (14.6) and rebounding (7.7) this season and was named to the All-Tournament team at last week’s NJCAA National Tournament. He had double figures in points and rebounds in each of IHCC’s four games at Hutch and his 50 rebounds led the tournament. He shot nearly 62% from the field for the season.

Bobbitt, also a freshman, had a solid national tournament, leading the tourney in assists with 24. He was the Warriors’ assists leader with a 6.0 average for the season and also led the team in steals with 107 while scoring 9.4 points a game. His season-best scoring output was 19 points against Southern Idaho at the national tourney.

Hogue capped his freshman campaign with a season-high 25 points in the seventh-place game against Wabash Valley last Saturday. His season averages were 11.1 points and 5.5 rebounds. He actually had more offensive rebounds than defensive boards.

In his only season as a Warrior, Spearman was second on the team in scoring at 11.7 points a game and was also second in 3-pointers with 53. His 29 points against Ellsworth CC were the most scored by an IHCC player in a game this season. He played his freshman season at the University of Dayton.

Bennett may have been the most improved player on this year’s Indian Hills team after playing sparingly as a freshman. He averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds and was the team leader in blocked shots with 63 while shooting .673 from the field. After scoring in double figures in only three of the first 25 games, Bennett scored 10 or more points in seven of the last 12 contests with a high game of 21.

Buckley, like Spearman, transferred from a Division I school – the University of New Hampshire. He averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds.

Haynes, a transfer from UTEP, had a 6.9 scoring average and provided 4.5 rebounds a game.

Joining Ricks and McKay on the All-Region first team were Devin Brooks and Xavier Munford from Iowa Western and Marshalltown’s Marcus Bell.

Iowa Western placed Kelvin Dixon and Alonzo Traylor on the second team and Marshalltown had Rashaad Brown-Peterson.

The honorable mention list includes Antonio Levy from Iowa Western and Keith Coleman, Nilson Santana and Derrick Stewart from Marshalltown, in addition to the three IHCC players.