Photo - Trinity Valley Athletics
He was a standout basketball player in the 2nd Region at Christian County High School and now you can call him a national champion. Derrell Bateman and the Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals won the 2025 NJCAA D1 men’s basketball championship Saturday with a 69-61 win over Connors State.
It was the first-ever championship game appearance at Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas for Trinity Valley. In claiming their first title, the Cardinals set a school record for wins in a season. They finished 34-3 to better the previous mark of 33 wins set by the Cardinal teams in 1982 and 2016.
Bateman, who did not play in the title game, saw action in 34 games this season for Trinity Valley and averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest for the Cardinals.
His high-scoring game this season came on February 5 when Bateman hit for 13 points against Kilgore College.
