The Riverland Community College Blue Devils Men’s Basketball team is heading to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament after receiving a #10 seed during yesterday’s Men's Basketball Selection Show on the NJCAA Network.

The team watched the selections live together in a classroom in the East Building of the Austin Campus.

The Blue Devils leave Sunday for the tournament at Herkimer College in Herkimer, NY. The tournament will be played March 13-16, 2024. Riverland’s first game will be against #7 seed, Maryland’s Prince George’s at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CST) on Wed., March 13.

As of today, the team is 29-3 overall with two of their losses coming by two points against nationally ranked opponents. “We had an impressive run of twenty-one straight wins this season which set an all-time record for consecutive wins,” said Coach Derek Hahn. “Receiving a bid to compete in the 2023-2024 NJCAA National Tournament in Herkimer, New York allows this group to compete against the nation’s best where they belong. This will be our second national tournament appearance in three years and second all-time in college history. We’re battle tested and hoping to make a deep run in this year’s field.”

Hahn said that when this group came back to campus in August, they knew the team could be “really special.” The program has been in the National Rankings for a majority of the season and are currently ranked number six in the country, according to the NJCAA. The team won the MCAC Southern Division for the third time in the past four years finishing (13-1) in division play. “This was the deepest I have seen our region since I started coaching here, with multiple teams who were good enough to get through the tournament,” Hahn said.  “We ended up finishing as NJCAA Region XIII Runner-Up in a narrow 75-73 game in a battle of two NJCAA top ten teams against Rainy River.” 

The tournament games are available for streaming at www.njcaa.org/network