Howard College tops College of Southern Idaho for NJCAA title

Howard College turned a No. 1 seed into a national title, beating College of Southern Idaho 82-67 in the 2026 NJCAA Division I men’s basketball championship game in Hutchinson, Kansas. The Hawks finished the job at the Hutchinson Sports Arena and ended a 16-year wait for their second Division I men’s basketball national championship.

That final step came after Howard survived the kind of pressure that usually breaks even the best teams. Kyle Cooper’s team had to outlast Butler Community College in double overtime before taking down Trinity Valley by six in the semifinals, then handled College of Southern Idaho to close a 33-4 season. Howard entered the bracket with multiple top-five NJCAA rankings during the year and played like a team that understood the target on its back.

The title game aired on ESPNU at 3:00 p.m. CT, and Terry Copeland Jr. made sure Howard’s biggest stage looked routine. The freshman forward-center finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds, a double-double that matched the moment and confirmed why he was named the 2025-26 NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. Copeland averaged 19.8 points and 7.9 rebounds during the season, and he capped the tournament by winning the William French Most Valuable Player award.

Howard did not win on one star alone. Brandon Ivery also earned all-tournament honors, giving the Hawks another steady piece around Copeland as they moved through the March 21-28 tournament in Hutchinson. Cooper, in his third season as Howard’s head coach, was named the 2026 NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year after steering the program through a bracket that demanded poise every night.

For Howard, this was more than one trophy in one season. The 82-67 finish gave the Hawks their second NJCAA Division I men’s basketball national championship, with the first coming in 2010, and put the program back in the center of the junior college conversation. College of Southern Idaho still walked away with all-tournament recognition for Jalen Lyn and Ace Reiser, along with the Charles Sesher Sportsmanship Award, but the bracket ended where Howard’s championship pressure held best.