COWLEY'S NWANKWO NAMED KJCCC DIVISION I MVP
Cowley College sophomore Jeff Nwankwo was named the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Men's Division I Player of the Year as the 2024 all-KJCCC teams were announced on Thursday.
Other major award winners for 2024 were Jahni Summers from Coffeyville was the Freshman of the Year, Barton coach Jeremy Coombs was named the Coach of the Year, Garden City's Brody Robinson was named the Newcomer of the Year and Barton's Cooper Jackson was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
JEFF NWANKWO, COWLEY – Player of the Year
Nwankwo, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound sophomore from Oklahoma City, was the leading scorer for the Tigers, who reached the NJCAA Tournament as an at-large selection.
Nwankwo was the sixth-leading scorer in the KJCCC this season at 18.6 points per game. The Cowley forward shot 50.2 percent from the floor and hit 36.8 percent from 3-point range (64 of 174). Nwankwo was seventh in the KJCCC in rebounding.
Down the stretch, Nwankwo was extremely tough to defend with three 30-point games and averaging 24.3 points per game over his last 10 games. He had a career-high 37 points against Butler on March 6, an 81-65 Tiger victory that secured second place in the KJCCC standings this season.
With 595 points for the season, Nwankwo is just 23 points from joining the Cowley single-season Top 10 scoring list.
JAHNI SUMMERS, COFFEYVILLE – Freshman of the Year
Summers is a 6-6, 185-point freshman guard from Evansville, Indiana.
He was the seventh-leading scorer in the KJCCC at 18.2 points per game. Summers averaged 4.5 rebounds and shot 45.0 percent overall, 37.1 percent on 78 made 3-pointers and 76.7 percent from the floor.
Summers scored in double figures in 28 of 31 games played. He had five-straight 20-point games early in January, scoring a season-high 28 points against Dodge City on January 10. He followed that game with 26 points against Hutchinson and 24 points against Colby.
JEREMY COOMBS, BARTON – Coach of the Year
The third-year Cougar head coach guided Barton to the 2024 KJCCC league title and led the program to its first Region VI Tournament championship since 2001.
Coombs' 2024 Cougars have put together a 32-1 overall record, going 23-1 in conference play to win the league title. Barton earned the No. 1 overall seed for the NJCAA National Tournament. Barton has won 23 consecutive games going into the NJCAA Tournament.
This is Coombs' second regional title as a head coach. While at Neosho County, Coombs guided the Panthers to the 2016 Region VI championship. Now in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach, Coombs has a record of 301-227.
BRODY ROBINSON, GARDEN CITY – Newcomer of the Year
A 5-10, 160-point transfer point guard from UT-Chattanooga, Robinson came to Garden City and proved to be one of the best points guards in the country.
Robinson led the NJCAA in assists with 8.6 assists per game, racking up 13 games of 10 or more assists including a Garden City single-game record 17 against the Bethany JV on December 10.
Robinson was also the second-leading scorer in the KJCCC this season at 20.4 points per game. He also led the KJCCC in free-throw percentage at 85.5 percent. Averaging 35.8 minutes per game, Robinson shot 43.8 percent overall and 37.3 percent from 3-point range (84 of 225).
COOPER JACKSON, BARTON – Defensive Player of the Year
Jackson is a 6-1, 165-pound guard from Lawrence. He led the KJCCC this season with 89 total steals and was one of the best on-ball defenders in the league.
Offensively, Jackson averaged 7.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.