Ross, Ndiaye Ink DI Letters

Ottumwa -- The number of Indian Hills basketball players headed to Division I schools after this year grew to seven on Wednesday when Ronald Ross signed a national letter-of-intent with Middle Tennessee and Rawane Ndiaye signed with the University of Tennessee.

Ross played this past season at Indian Hills after a freshman campaign at Vincennes (Ind.) where he was named an NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American.

With the Warriors, the guard from Indianapolis, Ind., averaged 14.5 points a game, second on the team, and led IHCC with 65 3-pointers, shooting over 40% from behind the arc.

Middle Tennessee loses six players off last season's team that finished 28-5 and qualified for the NCAA tournament.  MTSU coach Kermit Davis said, "Ronald has scored everywhere he's been.  He was the second-leading scorer on maybe the most talented junior college team in the country.  He is a physical guard and can really shoot the ball  from three.  He's going to be a really good player for us."

Ross will be the third former IHCC player to suit up for the Blue Raiders, joining LaRon Dendy and James Washington, both of whom had success after going there following their Indian Hills careers.

Ndiaye missed the first 10 games of his sophomore season after breaking a bone in his foot in the preseason.  He played in 15 games and averaged 2.9 points and 3.5 rebounds a game.  Those numbers are close to those of Ndiaye's freshman year at IHCC when he averaged 2.0 points and 2.5 rebounds.

Indian Hills coach Barret Peery was happy with the progress Ndiaye made during his two seasons with the Warriors and is optimistic he will continue to improve now that he is healthy again.

Five Warriors -- Jameel McKay (Marquette), Dustin Hogue (Iowa State), Richard Amardi (Iowa State), Jelan Kendrick (UNLV) and Trinson White (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) -- all signed letters-of-intent during the early signing period last fall.

McKay Repeats as First-Team All-American

OTTUMWA --- Jameel McKay is the first Indian Hills Community College basketball player to be named a first-team All-American two times.  McKay was selected to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s All-American squad for 2012-13, duplicating the honor he received as a freshman.

McKay, a Milwaukee, Wis. native, led the Warriors in both scoring and rebounding the past two years, increasing his averages to 18.2 points and 11.0 rebounds last season after averaging 14.6 points and 7.7 rebounds as a freshman. 

In his sophomore season, McKay shot 57 percent from the floor, averaged two blocks a game and went over the 1,000-point mark, finishing his stellar career at IHCC with 1,022 points.

He scored in double figures in 59 of the 63 games he played at Indian Hills, including 27 of 28 games with 10 or more points last season.

McKay played a key role on Warriors teams that were 59-8 in two years.  As a freshman he helped lead IHCC to the national tournament, where he was named to the all-tournament team after posting double-doubles in all four games at the tourney.  He totaled 61 points and 50 rebounds as the Warriors recovered from an opening-game loss to win their next three games.

One of Barret Peery’s first recruits when he took over as head coach in 2011, McKay was also a first-team all-region choice the last two years.

“I’m so proud of Jameel and the honors he has been given,” Peery said.  “He has been a tremendous worker for us and was all about winning.  Our basketball family couldn’t be happier for him.  He has had great teammates and coaches around him that have all been a part of his success.”

McKay, an all-city pick coming out of high school in Milwaukee, will be going back home to continue his education and basketball career, having signed last fall to attend Marquette University.