The Lady Cavaliers return to the hardwood intent on making a strong appearance at the Region IV Tournament. The team ended last season redeeming itself as the top program in the Region and winning the championship for the 23rd time in 29 years. The team qualified for the national tournament before the event was canceled due to COVID-19.
Success this season will depend on growth, leadership and the ability of newcomers to learn quickly, listen and be coachable.
Coach Donnie Denson will ask the seven freshmen to step up and make their presence felt on the offensive and defensive ends. Each of the nine sophomores will be expected to lead by example and continue the hard-nosed style of play that has produced great success for the Lady Cavs.
This season brings new challenges on and off the court. With a shortened schedule of 20 games, the team will hit the ground running and have to be prepared to compete right away.
The 2020-21 schedule has the Cavs facing off against South Suburban College, Moraine Valley C.C., Prairies State College, Morton College, and Rock Valley C.C. in Region IV. Regular season matchups like these should prepare the Cavs to compete for the regional championship crown.
Posted On: 06/04/20
Twenty-three Kankakee Community College student-athletes have received NJCAA honors for academic achievements during the 2019-20 school year.
The All-Academic First Team members, with a 4.0 grade point average, are: Leighann Allison of Kankakee, volleyball; Mallory Drake of Watseka, women’s basketball; Paige Glass of Kankakee, softball; Anna Jennings of Cissna Park, volleyball; Kloe Longtin of Herscher, volleyball; and Lanie Malone of Manteno, softball.
The All-Academic Second Team members, with grade point averages between 3.80-3.99, are: Makenna Goldtrap of Chebanse, softball; Eddie Saner of Springfield, baseball; and Julian Stadeli of Cissna Park, men’s basketball.
The All-Academic Third Team members, with grade point averages of 3.60-3.79, are: Madison Allen of Bushnell, women’s basketball; Owen Behrens of Prophetstown, baseball; Sloan Boyce of Cissna Park (pictured), volleyball; Sierra Cureton of Manteno, volleyball; Andrew Douglas of Watseka (pictured), men’s soccer; Ashley Harwood of Kankakee, volleyball; Isabelle Hille of Fort Wayne, Ind., women’s basketball; Michael Machnic of Walkerton, Ind., baseball; Michael Moshkovitz of Jerusalem, Israel, men’s basketball; Andrew Saliba of Peotone, men’s soccer; Emma Schriner of Bourbonnais (pictured), softball; Clayton Thompson of Schererville, Ind., baseball; Peyton Williams of Lafayette, Ind., baseball; and Kierra Williamson of Hazel Crest, women’s basketball.
Today is the National WBCA Day of Service. We are happy to show the hard work our student athletes donated last week for a greater cause. These ladies are part of the positive impact women’s basketball has in our communities
Congratulations to our 3 Athletics All Americans:
Jasmine Elliott- Women’s Basketball
Christian Jacobson- Men’s Basketball
Bryce Butler- Baseball
Congratulations to our Academic All Americans. These athletes received a 3.60 or higher GPA.
Soccer
2017-2018 Bobby Cooper 3.84
2017-2018 Connor Blanchette 3.85
2017-2018 Santiago Mena 3.91
2017-2018 Nicolas Mena 3.91
2017-2018 Jacob McCleary 4
2018 Andrew Newsome 3.63
2018 Dawson Swearengen 3.77 *Freshman
Volleyball
2017-2018 Courtney Johnson 3.69
Softball
2018 Halle McCrory 3.75
2018 Megan Lanie 3.78 *Freshman
2018 Amber Daly 3.92
2018 Marissa West 3.64
Baseball
2017-2018 Hayden Stoewer 3.94
2017 Dylan Dodd 3.63
2018 Bryce Butler 3.65
2018 Dylan Post 3.76 *Freshman
2018 Wade Rankin 3.78 *Freshman
2018 Matt Kingery 3.77
The new athletics Facebook is now live. Please follow us for updates on teams, scores, and happenings in the athletic department at Kankakee Community College.
Congratulations Kiara Moses who has committed to Arkansas Tech University on a full ride scholarship!! What a wonderful achievement and well deserved!! We couldn’t be more proud!!
Kiara finished her KCC career with many accomplishments. Her freshman season KCC won their Region Championship and placed 4th in the country. Kiara’s sophomore year she led the team in assists and steals and was our second leading scorer. Finished 11th in the country with 152 assists and 4th in the country with 131 steals. She was named to the All-Region Team and was named to the All-Region All-Tournament Team. The Lady Cavs won another Region Championship and made a National Appearance.
Congratulations Jasmine Elliot who has committed and received a full ride scholarship to Trinity Christian College!! We are so proud of her!
Jasmine finished this year leading the team averaging 18.4 pts per game and 10.6 rebounds per game. She finished with a double-double nearly every night.
Jasmine finished the season with MVP All-Region, MVP All-Region tournament team, and All-American!!!
She not only had accomplishments on the floor but in the classroom: 2 time Dean’s list recipient, made academic honors, accepted in the honors society and maintained a 3.5 GPA while taking 22 credit hours and playing basketball. Outstanding student athlete!
Congratulations Jasmine! We will miss you!
The Athletics Department is thrilled to introduce our brand-new website!
This site allows us to interact more than ever before through live social media feeds, news stories, and more. Please share a link to https://athletics.kcc.edu so friends and prospective students/athletes can stay up-to-date with our athletic programs.
What else?
We have improved site navigation so you can find details for both fans and athletes. We’re sure you’ll also notice the pictures are big and bold! Take a look around and you’ll plenty of other helpful information.
Thanks for visiting! Please let us know if you have any feedback.
On Friday, April 20th the Lady Cavaliers were able to support a local fundraising event at Watseka High School. Thank you Options Center for Independent Living for asking the KCC women’s basketball program to participate in this year’s fundraiser- and having the honor to play the U of I Wheelchair basketball team. 🏀100% of the proceeds stay in the community to provide programs and services provided by Option CIL for people with disabilities.
A native of the Peoria area, Donnie Denson has worked at KCC for the past 28 years, and is proud to call Kankakee home.
Being employed by the college has brought about many positive experiences over the years for Denson. This is the 28th season he has been associated with the women’s basketball team in some capacity. He was an assistant coach of the Lady Cavaliers from 1997 until being named head coach for the 2000-01 season.
Over the last 21 seasons with Denson at the helm, the Lady Cavaliers have compiled a 499-149 record (.770 winning percentage), with 16 seasons of 20 or more wins. He has continued to build upon the program’s history of success, and the Cavaliers have won the Region IV championship 22 times in the last 29 years.
In 2019, Coach Denson was inducted into the Region IV Hall of Fame in the category of Women’s Basketball Coach and Administrator. The same year, he was also inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Denson came to KCC as a Fitness Center specialist and athletic trainer in 1992, and is currently the assistant athletic director.
Denson graduated from Farmington East High School in Farmington. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Eureka College. He resides in Kankakee with his wife, Deb, and their son, David.
A former KCC player, Casey Hadley Meister is in her seventh season as women’s basketball assistant coach. Meister has experience as a community college, NCAA Division I, and NAIA Division I athlete. With her playing and coaching experience, she provides guidance to the student-athletes on reaching the next level, plus valuable input and game planning for the staff.
Meister has six years coaching experience at Tri-Point High School, 2008-11 as an assistant and 2011-14 as head coach. As assistant for her father, Marcus Hadley, Tri-Point went from a few wins per season to a .500 record. Then, while she was head coach, Tri-Point became even more competitive and finished second in the River Valley Conference all three seasons. Three players from Tri-Point also attended KCC on basketball scholarships during this time.
Meister graduated from Reed-Custer High School in 2004 with multiple basketball honors including All-State two times. She still holds the scoring record for the Kankakee All-Area All-Star game (34 points).
She played for Coach Denson and the Lady Cavaliers from 2004-06. At KCC, Meister was named to the All-Region team (2005) and was MVP of the Region Tournament in 2006. She earned NJCAA All-American honors in 2005 and 2006. She also played in the national tournament in 2006.
Meister continued her basketball career with a scholarship to Chicago State University. She then played her senior year at Olivet Nazarene University. That team won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, was nationally ranked, and went to the CCAC National Tournament (2008).
Meister is an art teacher at Tri-Point High School and lives in Cullom with her husband, Todd, and their three children. Hadley, Harper and Hudson.