COLBY, Kan. - After a third-place finish in the conference standings in 2024-25, Highland was picked third in the 2025-26 KJCCC Division 2 Men's Basketball Preseason Order of Finish announced by the league office today. Jon Oler's squad earned 34 points, trailing only Kansas City (Kan.) Community College and top pick Johnson County Community College.

The Scotties look to build off last year's 19-13 overall record and 8-6 finish in league play, returning the bulk of the 2024-25 roster and adding a number of new faces.

After registering a perfect 14-0 league mark in 2024-25 en route to its ninth league title, Johnson County received six of the seven first-place votes among the league's coaches and totaled 48 points. Fort Scott received the final first place vote in the poll, but finished tied with Allen Community College in fourth with 26 points.

Highland opens the 2025-26 slate on the road, taking on Peru College on Sunday, Nov. 2. Tip off against the Bobcats is set for 3 p.m.

The 2026 NJCAA Region 6 Tournament will begin on Tuesday, March 3rd with the tournament's top seed receiving a first-round bye into the semifinal round while teams seeded second, third, and fourth will host the bottom three teams in the final regular season standings for the right to advance to the semifinal round. The semifinals and finals will take place March 6-7 on the campus of Kansas City Kansas Community College inside the KCKCC Field House with the NJCAA Division 2 Men's Basketball National Tournament slated to take place March 16-21, 2026, in Danville, Illinois.

KJCCC Release

2025-26 KJCCC Division 2 Men's Basketball Predicted Order of Finish
1 - Johnson County 48 points (6 first-place votes)
2 - KCKCC 39 pts
3 - Highland 34 pts
T4 - Fort Scott 26 pts (1)
T4 - Allen 26 pts
6 - Neosho County 15 pts
7 - Labette 7 pts