SALEM, Ore. – The upcoming season of competition under Corban University Men's Basketball head coach Taylor Kelly has potential of becoming the most successful for the program in recent memory, as his team have done nothing but raise the bar every season since his arrival in the 2020-21 school year.
"We're excited to kick this year off with a tough road trip to Montana," Coach Kelly stated when asked to speak on this season's expectations. "I'm ecstatic to watch these guys grow together and become the fullness of our potential in a very competitive conference."
In a season where the Warriors finished far above conference expectations, tying for third-place overall in the CCC and qualifying for the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in six years, the Navy and Gold will look to do the same thing for the third-consecutive year in outperforming preseason expectations, as they were selected for a seven-place finish in this year's conference preseason rankings.
Corban will have multiple opportunities throughout their non-conference slate to create their own definition of the term "Road Warriors", as they'll four of their seven contests with non-CCC opponents in a road environment to start the 2023-24 season. They'll kick off their regular season on October 27th and 28th at the Holiday Inn Classic hosted by the University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana. They'll battle the host Argos on the opening day of the tourney, followed by Rocky Mountain College on Saturday morning.
The Warriors will return to Salem for a single-game home opener weekend on Sunday, November 5th against NCAA DIII Pacific University, with tipoff currently scheduled for 2pm. They'll hit the road for Montana once again the following weekend with contests scheduled against Montana State University-Northern and Carroll College in the Comfort Suites Classic.
A single exhibition matchup will thus separate the Navy and Gold from the beginning of conference play and the bulk of their non-conference slate, as they'll host a club team from the Washington area dubbed the Seattle Mountaineers who compete in numerous exhibition contests throughout the Pacific Northwest, most notably CCC opponent Oregon Tech on October 21st.
The entire NAIA will have every head turned in the direction of the CCC this season, with the conference holding the defending national champion Yotes of the College of Idaho alongside multiple NAIA Top 25 programs. The Warriors represent one of four CCC teams that reached the 2023 NAIA National Tournament, with their season ending just two points shy of an historic first round upset.
The conference schedule will officially begin on the 1st of December in Portland, Oregon for the Warriors, with back-to-back contests against Multnomah University and Warner Pacific University on the horizon. Three more CCC matchups later and Corban will host their final non-conference game of the 2023-24 season, with Portland Bible College making the short drive down the I-5 corridor to the City on a Hill for a December 28th afternoon contest.
Following the conclusion of the 2023-24 regular season and Cascade Collegiate Conference schedule, the CCC Regular Season Champions will receive the first of two automatic berths to the 2024 NAIA National Tournament and hold home court advantage throughout the CCC Tournament.
Meanwhile, the second automatic bid will go to the winner of the CCC Tournament (or second overall seed if the regular season champion wins the tournament), which will take place between February 28th and March 5th. Those teams that either earn an automatic berth or secure an at-large position by the NAIA Selection Committee will begin play in the national tourney on March 15th and continue their postseason runs up until March 26th in Kansas City, Missouri.
Click HERE to view the team's complete 2023-24 schedule.
Coach Kelly holds the difficult responsibility of replacing three starters from his 2022-23 roster due to graduation this past spring, including All-Conference forward Darius Henderson and a key reserve in the front court, forward James Carlson. However, with the key returners and head-turning transfers he will have on roster this season, Coach Kelly is more than confident his program won't miss any crucial steps as they piece together a gameplan to return to the level of conference champions.
All-Conference point guard Taylor Anderson will serve out his final season as a member of the Corban men's basketball program this upcoming school year in hopes of leading his team to another postseason appearance, as every team he's played on has earned a postseason tournament nod dating back to the 2019-20 season.
The return of key starting forward Collin Warmouth will prove essential to the Warriors' success this season, alongside defensive juggernaut Dirk Helaire II and three-point specialist Reece Van Lierop. The healthy senior crew will carry a majority of the workload as they continue to groom the younger classmen into competitive conference student-athletes while joining forces with the incoming set of transfers.
Click HERE to view the 2023-24 Corban men's basketball roster.
Four upper classmen transfers will look to make their mark in the CCC and NAIA with their college careers quickly coming to a close, with senior guard Kenneth Harris Jr. serving as the most experienced of the quartet with three seasons played at the NCAA DII level.
A trio of NWAC juniors in the form of guard Aundree Polk and forwards Jay Wilson and Devean Hinton have the potential to all make immediate impacts on the highly skilled Corban roster, with over two-thirds of the roster holding junior status or higher. With the correct blend of playing time and execution on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court, the Warriors will surely have plenty of success heading into Coach Kelly's fourth season orchestrating the men's basketball program.
To view the release on the 2023 recruiting class, click HERE.
A CCC Tournament championships, an NAIA National Tournament appearance, and multiple All-Conference student-athletes achieved under the guidance of Coach Kelly has Warrior Nation excited to see the next step up in the legacy that the Corban men's basketball squads leave behind after each fruitful season, as the program continues to grow upon their values and principles while adding hardware to the existing trophy cases.
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