BORGER, Texas -- Vu Phan has been named men's basketball coach at Frank Phillips College, athletic director John Green said Sunday. Phan just completed his second year as the Plainsmen's assistant coach. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Colby (Kan.) Community College. He succeeds Chad Cline.

Phan helped guied the Plainsmen to a 20-10 record last season. During his two-year stint as an assistant, the program has gone 36-24. Over the past five seasons, Phan has coached eight all-conference players and three all-region players. He has coached 20 players who have moved on to play for four-year colleges, four players who have moved on to play professional basketball overseas, and two who have played for the Colombian National Team. Phan was born in Panama City, Fla., but spent most of his life in Cut Off, La. He graduated from high school in Baton Rouge, La., and received a degree in organizational management and leadership from Friends University in Wichita, Kan.

Thanks to Charles Richards for this report.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. -- Howard College (Texas) provided NJCAA basketball fans with a memorable comeback for the second straight day as the Hawks erased a 10 point deficit to force overtime and defeat Three Rivers Community College (Mo.) 85-80 in the title game of the 2010 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Saturday night at Hutchinson's Sports Arena.

Four mens basketball teams rank among the best in the NJCAA, according to the latest NJCAA poll released February 2. 

Midland College (23-0, 7-0) tops all teams in the NJCAA, coming in at number one for the eighth consecutive time since November 24th.  The Chaps face Frank Phillips College tonight in Midland.

Howard College (19-2, 6-1) moves up a spot to number six to mark their fifth consecutive week in the top 10.

McClennan Community College (21-3, 7-1) ranks 13th in the NJCAA and Odessa College rounds out the Region 5 teams sitting 17th nationally.

These teams look to set the stage for a competitive Region 5 tournament held in Lubbock, Texas scheduled May 4-7, 2010, hosted by Lubbock Christian University.  Tournament information, including brackets and game times, can be found by clicking here.

Kevin Arnold of Eastfield College (Texas) has been named NJCAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week (Games Nov. 10-16) along with Ricardo Ratliffe of Central Florida Community College and Josh Hodge of Dean College (Mass.).

Arnold, a 6'1" shooting guard from Ft Wayne, Ark., tallied two double-double performances last week. He scored 23 points with 14 rebounds in an 84-68 win El Centro on Nov. 11. He then scored 22 points with 15 rebounds in an 87-67 victory over Mid-American JV. For the week he shot 55 percent (16-for-29) from the field.

South Plains College is helping Nick Diatta, a freshman post for the SPC Texan basketball team and a native of Dakar, Senegal, organize a shoe drive to benefit the people of Senegal.

Nick moved from Dakar to Florida so he could attend school and play basketball for Montverde Academy High School. Upon arriving at Montverde he was amazed as to how many pairs of shoes members of the team would go through during a season and decided to organize a drive, eventually sending over 1,000 pairs back to his native country.

Now that Nick is at South Plains College he is committed to organizing another drive and South Plains College is ready to help!

Drop off locations are currently being housed in the Texan Dome on the Levelland campus as well as Cathy Mitchell's office at the Reese campus. Additional drop off points will be added. Please contact Joe Walker at awalker@southplainscollege.edu, or Mitch Word of the Levelland News Press at levellandsports@valornet.com for additional details.

Please check www.spctexans.com for the latest news concerning this drive.

Click Here to visit Nick's Shoes For Senegal Website