VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University All-American and 2024 NJCAA Central District Tournament MVP Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) announced on social media earlier this week that he has committed to playing next season at NCAA Division I Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo.
“I committed to Missouri State University because I developed a bond with the head coach, assistant coach and the rest of the coaching staff,” Osei-Bonsu said. “I loved the campus and I felt like that’s where my heart was telling me to go.”
Osei-Bonsu guided the Trailblazers to a combined 60-10 record over the last two seasons, including two trips to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament and a berth in the Elite Eight as a freshman.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The No. 4 Vincennes University Trailblazers fell in the opening game of the 2024 NJCAA Division I National Championship tournament in Hutchinson Tuesday afternoon, falling to No. 13 Odessa College 58-56.
Both teams really struggled to get their footing early on and would prove to be a preview of what would ultimately be a very tough defensive battle.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the first half, with the lead changing hands five times and the score being tied an additional six times throughout the first 20 minutes of play.
VINCENNES, Ind. – Honors and recognitions came in big time for the 2024 Region 24 and Central District Champion Vincennes University men’s basketball team, with VU sophomores Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.), Kris King (Washington, D.C.) and freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) earning All-Region 24 honors.
The first Trailblazer recognized was VU leading scorer Lebron Thomas, who led the Trailblazers by averaging 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
Thomas got off to a great start to the season with 20 points, nine assist and seven rebounds in the Trailblazers win over Monroe College in November.
INA, Ill. – The No. 4-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers punched their ticket to the 2024 NJCAA Division I National tournament Friday night by winning over Wabash Valley College 73-67 to claim VU’s first District tournament championship since 2018.
VU sophomore Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) also took home some hardware of his own, earning tournament MVP honors after scoring 56 points and grabbing 36 rebounds over the three-game tournament.
Vincennes Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin also received the 2023-24 NJCAA Division I Region 24 Coach of the Year award Friday night.
INA, Ill. – The No. 4-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers clinched their spot in Friday night’s 2024 Region 24/Central District Championship with an 84-68 victory over defending NJCAA National Champion John A. Logan College.
The Trailblazers got an outstanding night out of sophomore Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) who finished with a career-high 33 points, 15 rebounds and six steals for VU.
Vincennes earned a spot in Friday’s Region 24 Championship game and will play for an automatic bid to the NJCAA Division I National tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.
INA, Ill. – The No. 4-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers opened their postseason play Monday afternoon at the 2024 Region 24/Central District Tournament hosted by Rend Lake College.
The Blazers earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament after winning the 2023-24 Region 24 regular season championship and began tournament play against the No. 9 seed Lincoln Trail Statesmen.
Vincennes jumped out on the Statesmen early and were able to lead the entire way as the Blazers picked up the 80-54 victory and advance to Wednesday night’s semi-finals.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University men’s basketball team climbed up one spot this week in the final NJCAA Division I National Rankings for the 2023-24 season to No. 4 in the country.
The Blazers closed down the 2023-24 regular season Tuesday night in the Physical Education Complex on Sophomore night and came away with an 84-65 victory over the Kaskaskia College Blue Devils.
VU sophomore Kris King (Washington, D.C.) caught fire from behind the arc in the second half Tuesday night, connecting on six of eight three-point shots and scored 20 of his career-high 26 points in the second half.
MT. CARMEL, Ill. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers appear to be rounding into form as of late and Saturday night’s 78-51 victory at Wabash Valley College was no exception.
The Trailblazers jumped on the host Warriors early with the help of a 16-1 scoring run and were able to cruise through the second half to pick up the 27-point victory.
VU got off to a fast start Saturday night at Wabash Valley, working the ball inside and finding open outside shots to put together a 16-1 scoring run to jump out to a big 20-6 lead over the Warriors early in the first half.
ROBINSON, Ill. – The Vincennes University men’s basketball team jumped up three spots in this week’s NJCAA Division I National rankings, getting back into the top-five at No. 5 this week.
VU’s first test since getting back into the top five was a short road trip to Robinson, Ill. to face off against the Lincoln Trail College Statesmen.
The Trailblazers were able to hold the Statesmen offense a bay, allowing just 52 points as VU came away with the wire-to-wire 93-52 victory.
VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University freshman Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) came through for the Blazers when they needed him the most Saturday night, hitting 11 of 12 second half free throws to help the No. 8-ranked VU Trailblazers pick up an 87-79 victory over Olney Central College.
With this win, the Trailblazers now move in front of the Blue Knights, gaining a half-game lead over Olney Central for the top spot in the Region 24 standings.
The Trailblazers were also without Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin Saturday night, who was serving a one game suspension after being ejected from Wednesday night’s win over Southwestern Illinois.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers were looking for a bounce back win in a big way Wednesday night after falling in overtime on the road last Saturday and falling to No. 8 in this week’s NJCAA Division I National Rankings.
The Trailblazers came out looking to make a statement against the Southwestern Illinois College Blue Storm inside the Physical Education Complex and were able to come away with a very strong wire-to-wire 88-57 win.
Vincennes got off to a quick start Wednesday night, jumping out to a 9-2 lead early in the game.
CARTERVILLE, Ill. – The No. 4-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers hit the road Saturday afternoon for another tough Region 24 matchup against the defending NJCAA Division I National Champion John A. Logan Volunteers.
The Trailblazers looked to be rolling towards another victory midway through the second half holding a 57-42 lead over the Vols, before the Volunteers turned it on late and rode the crowd’s momentum to a 72-71 overtime victory over the Blazers.
VU looked to have possibly turned a corner early on Saturday afternoon against the Volunteers, opening the game by scoring nine of the first 12 points to hold an early six point lead.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers made a few changes to the starting lineup Saturday afternoon against Lake Land College from Mattoon, Ill. and the Blazers jumped out to an early 16 point first half lead.
The Lakers battled back to cut the deficit to six at halftime but the Trailblazers were able to go wire-to-wire to pick up the 66-58 victory over Lake Land.
VU got off to an excellent start Saturday afternoon, scoring the first seven points of the game and later using a 10-0 scoring run to build a 20-4 advantage midway through the first half.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers climbed back into the top-five in this week’s NJCAA Division I National rankings, moving up one spot to No. 5.
The Blazers looked to be off to a quick start Wednesday night when VU hosted Shawnee Community College from Ullin, Illinois, but quickly fell behind after going cold offensively late in the first half.
Trailing by as many as 11 in the second half, the Trailblazers battled their way back to pick up a 67-62 victory over the Saints.
CENTRALIA, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers moved up in this week’s NJCAA Division I National rankings to No. 6 this week.
The Blazers hit the road for their only game of the week Wednesday night, heading to Centralia to take on Kaskaskia College.
The Blazers looked to get the ball into the block all night and were able to pull away in the second half for a 72-52 victory over the Blue Devils.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 8-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers headed into Saturday night’s game with Wabash Valley College locked in a three-way tie for the top spot in the Region 24 standings with the Warriors and Olney Central College.
VU looked to answer the call and close out the week strong in this first place matchup Saturday night in the Physical Education Complex and were able to ride a 48-22 rebounding advantage to an 80-62 victory over Wabash Valley.
The Trailblazers came out of the gates strong and ended up nearly going wire-to-wire over the Warriors, using an early 11-2 scoring run to take a quick 11-4 lead before growing the lead to double digits at 19-8.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers slid five spots in this week’s NJCAA Division I National Rankings after falling at Olney Central Saturday night to No. 8 this week.
The Trailblazers got their first opportunity to bounce back and hopefully resume their climb up the polls Wednesday night against Region 24 rival Lincoln Trail College from Robinson, Ill.
After a slow start the Blazers rode a big 54-point second half to pull away late to claim the 88-55 victory over the Statesmen.
OLNEY, Ill. – The No. 3-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers hit the road Saturday night for another tough Region 24 road matchup, this time coming against the Blue Knights of Olney Central College.
VU looked to have gained control over this game in the first half and was able to ride the momentum swings of the second half to hold a late 70-63 lead before a string of miscues allowed the Blue Knights to come away with the 73-72 victory.
Vincennes looked to take control of the game early, scoring the first four points of the contest Saturday night, before trading baskets with the Blue Knights.
BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers continued to climb in the National Rankings this week, moving up one spot to No. 3 in this week’s NJCAA Division I rankings.
The Blazers faced a tough defensive battle Wednesday night in their first test with this new ranking against Southwestern Illinois College.
The Blazers fell behind early but were able to battle back and pick up the 69-61 victory over the Blue Storm.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 4-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers hit the home floor for the first time in 2024, facing a tough Region 24 test in defending NJCAA Division I National Champion John A. Logan College.
The Trailblazers built up an early first half lead, the Volunteers battled back in the second half before the Blazers ultimately pulled away late to pick up the 87-80 victory over John A. Logan.
VU got off to a good start offensively Saturday afternoon, taking an early 16-11 lead and later using a 9-0 scoring run to take a 25-14 advantage over the Volunteers.
MATTOON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers moved up two spots in this week’s NJCAA Division I National Rankings to No. 4 in the country.
The Blazers got their first opportunity to defend this new ranking Wednesday night at Lake Land College in Mattoon.
Vincennes controlled the rebounding game all night to the tune of 47 rebounds and 22 offensive rebounds in a 90-67 victory over the host Lakers.
CHICAGO, Ill. – The No. 6 Vincennes University Trailblazers tipped off the 2024 portion of their schedule Saturday afternoon by hitting the road to take on Malcolm X College in Chicago.
The Blazers had to shake off some of the rust early but were able to pull away late and pick up the 100-76 victory over the Hawks.
Vincennes got off to a slow start in their first game since the Holiday break, with Malcolm X grabbing an early four-point lead and the Blazers playing from behind for the first 10 minutes of the game.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 6-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers hit the floor for the final time in 2023 Wednesday night when the Blazers hosted Southwest Tennessee Community College in the Physical Education Complex.
VU rode a big first half scoring run to a big 95-61 victory over the Saluqis, aided by 17 first half points by sophomore Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.).
The Trailblazers got off to a fast start over Southwest Tennessee, outscoring the Saluqis 31-7 in the early part of the first half to take a big 31-9 lead.
ULLIN, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers checked in this week at No. 6 in the NJCAA Division I National rankings and hit the road Saturday afternoon for their first Region 24 game of the season at Shawnee Community College.
The Trailblazers got off to a great start but needed a second half rally to pull away from the Saints and pick up an 82-66 victory in Ullin.
Vincennes came out of the gates strong against the Saints, scoring the first nine points of the game before Shawnee answered back with a 10-2 scoring run to cut the deficit to one.
OTTUMWA, Iowa – Vincennes University Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin earned his 700th career victory as an NJCAA Head Coach Saturday night with the No. 3-ranked Trailblazers pulling off a last second comeback and winning at the buzzer 81-79 over Sauk Valley Community College.
Franklin becomes the 25th men’s basketball head coach to win 700 games at the Junior College level and is one of eight active NJCAA Head Coaches to achieve this milestone in any Division.
Franklin’s career coaching record sits at 700 wins and 176 losses over 27 seasons, recording 330 wins at Southeastern Illinois Community College and 370 wins and counting at Vincennes University.
OTTUMWA, Iowa – The No. 3-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers faced another tough road matchup Friday night, facing another ranked NJCAA Division I opponent, their fourth of the year, in a rematch against No. 14-ranked Indian Hills Community College.
The Trailblazers won the first matchup between these two teams earlier this season in Vincennes, but IHCC was able to even the score in Iowa, coming away with an 80-75 victory over the Blazers in overtime.
The host Warriors got off to a very fast start in front of their home crowd, quickly building a 16-4 lead over the Blazers and expanding their lead to 15 midway through the first half.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 4-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers finished their game Saturday night with five scorers in double-figures in a big 104-58 win over Elgin Community College.
The Trailblazers got off to a bit of a slow start, after scoring the first five points of the game, VU played the Spartans even to hold a 16-11 advantage early in the first half.
Vincennes broke the game wide open after this point with a massive 19-0 scoring run to take a 35-11 lead over Elgin.
MOBERLY, Mo. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers faced another tough test Saturday night, closing out the 2023 Moberly Area Community College Thanksgiving Classic against host and No. 12-ranked Moberly Area.
The Trailblazers led throughout most of the game but found themselves in a back-and-forth battle in the second half before pulling away at the end to pick up the 76-67 victory over the Greyhounds.
Vincennes got off to a running start over the host Greyhounds Saturday night, scoring the first seven points of the game and later building a 23-9 lead midway through the first half of play.
MOBERLY, Mo. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers faced their first game away from the Physical Education Complex this season and were able to come away with a 78-69 victory over State Fair Community College at the Moberly Area C.C. Thanksgiving Classic.
Vincennes got off to a slow start Friday afternoon, turning the ball over four times in the first four minutes of the game and found themselves facing a 16-12 deficit midway through the first half.
VU would score five unanswered to grab the lead back at 19-18, one of 11 lead changes during the opening half of play.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The No. 5-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers closed out their seven-game home stand to begin the 2023-24 season with a big NJCAA Division I showdown with No. 7-ranked Indian Hills Community College Saturday night at the P.E. Complex.
The Trailblazers played a large majority of the game without freshman guard Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) but were aided by 24 points by sophomore Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.), matching his career-high, to win over the Warriors 86-76.
Vincennes got off to an excellent start in front of the home crowd, using an 11-3 scoring run early in the first half to take a 19-8 lead.
VU All-American Michael Osei-Bonsu to play at Missouri State University
May 03, 2024VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University All-American and 2024 NJCAA Central District Tournament MVP Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) announced on social media earlier this week that he has committed to playing next season at NCAA Division I Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo. “I committed to Missouri State University because I developed a bond with the head coach, assistant coach and the rest of the coaching staff,” Osei-Bonsu said. “I loved the campus and I felt like that’s where my heart was telling me to go.” Osei-Bonsu guided the Trailblazers to a combined 60-10 record over the last two seasons, including two trips to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament and a berth in the Elite Eight as a freshman.
