Head Coach Jeff KidderJeff Kidder came to Indian Hills prior to the 2005-06 season with the goal of restoring the Warrior program to its winning ways. And he has succeeded in doing that in his first two seasons at the helm. Coach Kidder said from his first day on campus he wanted to get the Warriors back to the national tournament. And he accomplished that in his second season at IHCC. Now, the next step for the Warriors and Coach Kidder is to reach the Final Four at the national tourney, something Indian Hills teams and Jeff Kidder-coached teams have done in the past.
The 2006-07 Indian Hills basketball team rolled through an unbeaten regular season and was ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA Division I poll for the final two weeks of the regular campaign Their first loss, after 31 straight wins, came in the second game of the best-of-three series with Iowa Western to determine the Region XI postseason champion. But the Warriors clinched a berth in the national tourney two nights later when they defeated Iowa Western, 62-56, at the Hellyer Center, wrapping up an unbeaten season on their home court where they won all 21 games they played. Indian Hills went 1-and-2 at the national tournament in Hutchinson, KS, losing to Seminole State (OK) and Northeastern (CO) and drubbing Aiken Tech (SC). Their 33 wins, against only three losses, represented the most wins for an Indian Hills team since the 1998-99 national title team that was 38-1.
One of the hallmarks of Coach Kidder's teams is defense and the '06-'07 Warriors were the best defensive team in IHCC history. Their defensive average of 58.4 smashed the previous record of 65.6 set in the 1983-84 season.
Along with returning to the national tournament, the other thing that the Indian Hills coach has preached since taking over the program is protecting the home court. His first two Indian Hills teams have gone 38-1 at the Hellyer Center.
In his first season as head coach of the Warriors, Kidder led them to a 25-6 record. The IHCC season came to a close with a loss to Southeastern in the first round of the Region XI playoffs, the Warriors' only home loss in 18 games in the 2005-06 season. Indian Hills received the No. 2 seed for the postseason tournament after finishing with a league record of 4-2.
Season highlights for the Warriors included a No. 2 national ranking after Indian Hills started the year winning the first 11 games. That stretch included a forfeit victory against Schoolcraft at a tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Warriors won all seven games they played in their three home tournaments. Indian Hills defeated two teams that played in the NJCAA Division I national tournament, knocking off Sheridan (Wyo.) College in the season opener, 95-89, and edging Iowa Western, 74-73, on Jamaal Smith's game-winning shot at the buzzer. Indian Hills played in five overtime games during the course of the season, going 2-3 in those games.
Coach Kidder's record in two seasons with the Warriors is 58-9, a winning percentage of .866. His overall record, in 12 years as a head coach, is 324-79 for a winning percentage of .804.
Kidder was named the new head coach at Indian Hills on April 6, 2005. He came to IHCC after eight highly successful years at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah. Kidder's Dixie teams averaged 27 wins per season and made four trips to the national tournament. Kidder's 2002 Dixie squad won the national title and he was named NJCAA Coach of the Year, National Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year, and Coach of the Tournament at the national tourney.
The Indian Hills coach had an overall record of 218-57 and a conference mark of 108-40 at Dixie. The Rebels won four Scenic West Athletic Conference titles, four Region 18 championships, and were third twice and sixth once at the national tournament in addition to the title team in 2002. Dixie had a 73-game home court winning streak stretching from 2000 to 2004. And Kidder points with pride to the fact that every one of his student-athletes who played two years at the school got their degree.
Kidder's list of accomplishments is impressive. He was named the Scenic West Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four straight years and was the Region 18 Coach of the Year four times. Along with his national Coach of the Year awards in 2002, he was named the Top Junior College Coach in the country in 2004 by Basketball Times. Kidder won his 100th game at Dixie in his fourth season at the school and won his 200th game three years later. He coached eight all-Americans and 21 all-conference performers.
Kidder is a native of Kentucky. He earned his BA degree in Secondary Education from the University of Kentucky where he was a student assistant under legendary coach Eddie Sutton. Kidder was an assistant coach at West Texas State in Canyon, Texas for one year before getting his first head coaching job at Howard College in Big Spring, Texas in 1991. In two years at Howard, his teams were 48-13. He left the state of Texas for an assistant's position at the University of Nevada, Reno and, after four years there, was hired at Dixie in April 1997.
Kidder and his wife, Monica, have two children, a daughter, Bailey, and a son, Jacob.
Assistant Coach Nathan CourtneyNathan Courtney was added to Coach Kidder's staff at Indian Hills in 2006, returning to the conference where he previously coached. Courtney became familiar with Indian Hills from his three-year stint as an assistant coach at Region XI foe Marshalltown Community College from 2002-05. He left Marshalltown, where he coached under Denny Aye, for an assistant's job at Missouri State-West Plains. He spent one year there before coming back to his home state and Indian Hills.
Courtney was a three-year starter and team captain in basketball at the University of Dubuque. He was also a member of the college's golf team. Courtney began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Dubuque, then went to Barton College in North Carolina for one year.
Courtney received his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Dubuque and is currently working toward a master's degree at the University of Northern Iowa.
"We are very excited to have Nathan as a part of our staff," said IHCC Head Coach Jeff Kidder. "Nathan brings with him some valuable experience in recruiting and coaching in Iowa from his time at Marshalltown. I feel he will definitely impact our players on and off the floor."
Assistant Coach Cody Hopkins
Coach Jeff Kidder went to the southern part of the country to
find an assistant coach this summer. Cody Hopkins, whose
playing and coaching career has been primarily in Texas and
Oklahoma, was hired in August. Hopkins came to Indian Hills
from Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas where he had spent
the previous year as an assistant coach under Fred Rike.
Hopkins also helped coach Team Texas, the second-ranked AAU team in
the country.
The new IHCC assistant was born in Dallas, Texas. He received an Associates Degree from Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, Oklahoma and a bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma.
Hopkins was a two-year starter at Northern Oklahoma, averaging 12 points a game and shooting 42% from three-point range. He was an all-conference performer as a sophomore. Hopkins attended Centenary College for one year, playing around 20 minutes a game there. He finished up his playing career at Northeastern State where he was among the team leaders in points, rebounds, assists-to-turnover ratio, free throw percentage and three-point shooting.
Hopkins' college basketball career came after he was named a high school All-American and national three-point shooting champion while in high school.
In addition to his coaching experience in the AAU ranks and at Angelo State, Hopkins has also been a guest coach at camps at Texas-San Antonio, Texas A&M, Texas, Kansas and Kentucky in addition to the prestigious Kobe Bryant Skills Academy, where he was a guest coach this past summer. Hopkins is also a member of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.
At Indian Hills, Hopkins is involved in recruiting, academic monitoring, scouting, game preparation and skill development in addition to on-floor coaching.