Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Connors State College

Cowboys Headed Back to NJCAA National Tournament for 2nd Consecutive Year and 17th Time In School History

Connors State Cowboys punched their ticket once again to the NJCAA National Championship basketball tournament this past weekend. Not an unusual event in itself as coach Bill Muse has taken 10 previous teams to Hutchinson. But this year will certainly be one of the most memorable for the veteran coach and his son and assistant coach Bill Muse Jr.

Cowboys Headed Back to NJCAA National Tournament for 2nd Consecutive Year and 17th Time In School History
Box Score
March 15, 2025

Muskogee, OK- Connors State Cowboys punched their ticket once again to the NJCAA National Championship basketball tournament this past weekend. Not an unusual event in itself as coach Bill Muse has taken 10 previous teams to Hutchinson. But this year will certainly be one of the most memorable for the veteran coach and his son and assistant coach Bill Muse Jr.

Coming off a Cinderella showing at the national tournament last year when Connors went all the way to the semifinals finishing 34-3, things turned sour in the summer as graduation and unexpected transfers left Muse with no returning players to start the 2024-25 season — a first for him in his 33 years at the helm. On top of that he had hip surgery which slowed him down which left much of the task of recruiting a whole new team to his son.

"Junior" as he's known, did just that bringing in eight freshmen and three transfers that had never played together before to the Warner campus.

Muse's magic coaching touch formed this group of individuals into a team that went 11-1 in the first semester. But then tragedy struck as Connie Muse, the coaches' wife and mother, passed way unexpectedly early in the Christmas break. And while the Muse boys took it hard understandably, the group of individuals they recruited rallied around them, wearing warm-ups that read "This one's for Mama Muse" and playing with a renewed since of dedication.

The Cowboys rolled through the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a 14-2 record, winning the conference title by four games and drawing the top seed in the Region 2 tournament held at Muskogee's Rougher Village. They easily won their three games by an average of over 20 points per game. Of particular pleasure was the semifinal win over Western State which had given Connors their only two conference losses. But the Cowboys scored their biggest win of the tournament by steam-rolling the Pioneers 80-48.

"We were really prepared for this game. They beat us in a close game at home and we didn't play very well out there, but we felt confident that with a few defensive adjustments we could correct those losses, and the guys played extremely well with good shooting and excellent defense," said Muse.

In the tournament finals Connors defeated NEO and former Cowboy Buddy Hammer 75-59 for their third win over the Norse this season. Cowboys Edwin Daniel, Kevin Stubblefield Jr., and DJ Dormu were named to the All-Tournament team

Muse will seek his 800th career win at Connors in the first round of the national tournament as the Cowboys, who failed to be recognized or ranked during the season despite their 28-3 record, will face John A. Logan College of Illinois in the tournament's opening round at noon Saturday.

"The pain will be there forever, but I think these guys played for something higher than themselves or basketball. I know she'll be looking down. She's been to every one of these tournament trips and I hate she's going to miss this one, but I know she's there with us in spirit," said Muse softly.