PITTSBURG -- The Pittsburg State University men's basketball team will travel to Kansas City, Mo., to host the 12-team Central Region Challenge at historic Municipal Auditorium.

As part of the three-day, 12-game schedule, the Gorillas will face St. Cloud State University at 3 p.m. (CST) Friday (Nov. 10) and the University of Sioux Falls at 2 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 12).

Both Friday and Saturday's action have five games on the docket beginning at 11 a.m., while the tournament will wrap up with a pair of games Sunday. Click Here for the full tournament schedule.

The Pitt State action can be heard on ESPN 100.7 FM radio, online at espn1007.com/ or through the ESPN 100.7 or KSHQ app for phones or mobile devices.

The Record
The Central Region Challenge action will mark the Gorillas 2023-24 season debut under second-year head coach Jeff Boschee . Pitt State is seeking to build upon an 8-20 (5-17 MIAA) season from a year ago.

The Gorillas return three players who started 11 or more games last year – senior guard/forwards Deshaun English II and Jermay Shaw and redshirt junior guard R.J. Forney Jr. – and six letterwinners from the 2022-23 squad. English averaged 14.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors.

Boschee, and his staff, have supplemented the roster with three transfers and five incoming freshmen.

Head Coach Jeff Boschee
Jeff Boschee begins his second year as head basketball coach at Pittsburg State. He guided a young Gorillas squad to an 8-20 record in his debut season.

Prior to accepting the Pitt State position, Boschee served as head coach at MIAA rival Missouri Southern State University the previous eight seasons. He compiled a 151-86 (.637) overall record leading the Lions.

He has a 159-106 (.600) career record as a head coach.

Boschee directed MSSU to four 20-win seasons and three consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament between the 2017-18 and the 2019-20 campaigns. He was selected the 2017-18 MIAA Coach of the Year and his 2018-19 squad reached the NCAA Sweet 16 while posting a 25-8 record.

As a collegiate player, Boschee was a four-year starter at the University of Kansas under former KU coach Roy Williams from the 1998-99 to 2001-02 seasons. While at KU he helped the Jayhawks win a Big 12 Conference Championship and a Big 12 Conference Tournament title, and he played in the 2002 NCAA Final Four.

Series History
Pitt State and St. Cloud State will meet for the fifth time in program history Friday. The all-time series is tied, 2-2. The Gorillas and Huskies last met Nov. 11, 2017, with Pitt State posting a 72-62 win in Pittsburg.

Sunday's action will mark the third all-time meeting between the Gorillas and the Cougars. Pitt State is 2-0 against USF, including a 82-74 victory in the Central Region Challenge last year on Nov. 13, 2022.

Scouting the Gorillas
The Gorillas return two starters – senior guard/forward Deshaun English II and redshirt junior guard R.J. Forney Jr. – and five lettermen from the 2022-23 season.

English (Pittsburg, Kan.) returns following an All-MIAA junior campaign for the Gorillas. He started all 27 games played for the season, averaging a team-leading 14.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game and posting 12 double-doubles on the year. English ranked 10th in the MIAA in scoring, second in the conference in rebounding and third in the league in blocked shots and minutes played (34.5 pg).

English (6-6, 220) enjoyed a record setting game vs. Lincoln (Nov. 28) last year, scoring 17 points and tying a 56-year-old school record with 23 rebounds.

English joined the Gorillas from Butler Community College. He was a two-time All-Jayhawk Conference performer for the Grizzlies, earning third-team All-Conference honors as a sophomore in 2021-22 and honorable mention All-Conference recognition as a freshman in 2019-20. He played at NCAA Division I University of Northern Colorado during the 2020-21 season.

The 2018 Kansas Class 5A Player of the Year, English averaged 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game his senior year at Pittsburg High School.

Forney (Broken Arrow, Okla.) averaged 8.9 points and 2.8 rebounds last year and hit a team-leading 70 3-point field goals. He averaged 2.5 3-point field goals per game, shooting .417 from behind the arc (70-168).

Forney (6-3, 180) scored a career best 17 points and hit five 3-pointers vs. MWSU (Dec. 1) and vs. MSSU (Feb. 11) last season.  He ranked second in the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage and sixth in the conference in 3-pointers made per game.

Forney has started 32 of 67 career games for the Gorillas, compiling 352 points (5.3 ppg), 136 rebounds (2.0 rpg) and 97 3-point field goals.

He came to Pitt State from Tulsa's Union High School, where he averaged 10.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists his senior year.

Senior guard/forward Jermay Shaw  started 11 of 28 games played last season, averaging 6.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. Shaw (St. Louis, Mo.) shot 51.3 percent from the field on the year, converting 61 of 119 attempts.

He scored a season best 23 points vs. Neb.-Kearney (Feb. 18) last year.

Shaw transferred to Pitt State from the University of Detroit Mercy. He played one season for the Titans, after earning second-team NJCAA All-America honors at North Central Missouri College in 2020-21. He averaged 16.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting .559 from the field during his All-America campaign.

Shaw was a two-time Missouri Class 3A All-District performer at St. Louis' Valley Park High School.

Sophomore center Tane Prictor returns for his second season in the Pitt State program. Prictor (Bend, Ore.) started in five of 21 games played, averaging 3.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. He also blocked 18 shots on the season.

Prictor (6-11, 275) posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. MSSU (Feb. 11) last year.

Prictor signed with Pitt State out of Mountain View (Ore.) High School where he was an honorable mention Oregon Class 6A All-State performer as a senior for the Cougars. He averaged 16 points, eight rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game, leading the state of Oregon in blocked shots.

Sophomore Max Alexander returns for his second season in the Pitt State program. Alexander (Buhler, Kan.) battled injury in his initial season, competing in two games for the Gorillas.
Alexander (5-11, 180) earned first-team Kansas All-State All-Class honors as a senior at Buhler High School in 2021, averaging 25 points, six rebounds and four assists per game for the Crusaders.

Redshirt freshman Hayden Shanks also returns for his second year in the Pitt State program. Shanks (Bentonville, Ark.) garnered Arkansas Class 6A All-State honors as a senior at Bentonville High School, averaging 12 points and five rebounds a game his senior season.

The Gorillas welcome three transfers into the program:  sophomore guard Tanner Mans, junior center Braydon Redd and sophomore guard Bryson Tatum.

Mans (Wichita, Kan.) comes to Pitt State from Virginia Military Institute, where he averaged 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game during the 2021-22 season. He was a Kansas Class 5A All-State performer as a senior at Bishop Carroll High School.

Redd (Houston, Texas) joins the Gorillas after two seasons at Seminole State College, where he averaged 13 points and nine rebounds per game. Redd (6-10, 260) garnered All-America accolades as a senior at Cypress Falls High School.

Tatum (Urbana, Ill.) transferred to Pitt State from Miami (Ohio) University, where he contributed 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game last year. Tatum (6-4, 185) earned first-team All-State honors as a senior at Urbana (Ill.) High School.

Additionally, the Gorillas welcome five freshmen into the program for the 2023-24 season:  guard Jordan Frison (Memphis, Tenn./Overton High School, guard/forward Evan Jackson (Chicago/DeLaSalle Institute), guard Tyler Hankamer (Dallas, Texas/Kimball High School), forward/center Henry Cowles (Conway, Ark./Scotland Prep) and guard Carter Hjelmstad (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Memorial High School).