The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference announced the 2025-26 RMAC Men’s Basketball All-Conference Teams and major awards, highlighted by Cam Lowe receiving RMAC Player of the Year and head coach Ryan Thompson being named the RMAC Coach of the Year. Along with the player of the year honor, Lowe also received First Team All-RMAC recognition along with Jaeton Hackley. Earning Honorable Mention All-RMAC selections were Tristan Hurdle and Myles Johnson.
Last season’s RMAC Freshman of the Year is now the RMAC Player of the Year as Cam Lowe secures the third RMAC Player of the Year accolade in program history, joining Joel Scott earned the honor in 2021-22 and 2022-23. During his sophomore campaign, Lowe has averaged 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He enters Friday’s game with 24 double digit scoring performances this season, and 14 20-point performances. In January he scored a career-high 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 shooting from 3-point range against Colorado Mesa. He has connected on three or more 3-pointers 14 times this year. Nationally in NCAA Division II this season he currently ranks 20th in 3-point percentage (42.1%), is 31st in total 3-pointers made (80), and is 39th 3-pointers per game (2.76). He connected on his 100th career 3-pointer against Regis and has since brought his career 3-point shooting up to 144-of-352 (40.9%). In the Yellow Jackets match-up with New Mexico Highlands he grabbed a season-best 11 rebounds, marking his first of two double-doubles of the year as he added 12 points. The match-up with NMHU was one of 19 games thus far with six or more boards. He enters the conference semifinals just 22 points away from 1,000 in his career, currently sitting at 978 in his 59 career games in the Green & Gold.
After earning Honorable Mention All-RMAC a year ago, Jaeton Hackley receives his First Team All-RMAC accolades for the first time in his career. He has scored in double figures 19 time during the season, including four occasions where he reached the 20-point mark. In the RMAC opener at South Dakota Mines, as he poured in a career-best 29 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field, 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe, while also dishing out five assists and grabbing three boards. His most recent 20-point game against UCCS on Tuesday night saw him score all 21 of his points in the second half and bring the Yellow Jackets back from a 15-point halftime deficit in the quarterfinal round. He is currently averaging 13.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 0.9 steals per game this year. He recorded his second career double-double and first of the season with a 16-point and 10-assist outing against UCCS in December, while also adding five rebounds. He has dished out four or more assists in 19 games this year thus far, including tying his career-high of ten in the win over the Mountain Lions. He has collected multiple steals in seven games, including a season-best of three against Adams State. This year he currently ranks third in the RMAC and 24th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.70) and is fifth in the league in assists per game (4.3). He entered the 2025-26 season in the top-10 of both the BHSU career assists and steals per game lists and against Colorado School of Mine dished out his 250th career assist. He now sits at 279 in his Yellow Jacket career.
Myles Johnson, the December 1 RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, receives his firt career RMAC accolade as he was named Honorable Mention All-RMAC on Thursday. He has reached double figures in 19 games this season, averaging 11.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Against Colorado Christian in the last RMAC contest prior to the winter break, he scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, 2-of-2 shooting from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 shooting at the charity stripe. Thus far in 2025-26 he is shooting 134-of-242 (55.4%) from the field. Additionally, among the top defenders in the league, he has collected multiple steals in 13 games, including each of the last three. He matched a career-high of five steals against MSU Moorhead in November. Against Westminster, he set a career-high of nine rebounds, one of 13 games he has snagged five or more boards this year. He missed all of 2024-25 due to injury but averaged 4.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 2023-24.
For the second consecutive year Tristan Hurdle was named Honorable Mention All-RMAC, as he remains one of the top sharpshooters from distance in all of NCAA Division II, ranking top-5 among active players with 246 career 3-pointers. After leading DII by knocking down 47.6 percent of his shots from beyond the arc in 2024-25, through 29 games in his second season in Spearfish he is currently shooting at a 46.7 percent clip from 3-point range as he is 64-of-140 on the year. He scored a season-high 26 points at home against Regis in February, knocking down 8-of-11 3-pointers to match a career-high and tie for the second-most 3-pointers made in program history. He received RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors the next week as he concluded the weekend 13-of-18 from deep after going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc against Colorado School of Mines as well. He has scored in double figures on 14 occasions this year. On 11 occasions this year he has hit three or more 3-pointers. On the road at MSU Denver he knocked down his 100th career 3-pointer as a Yellow Jacket, having now connected on 134-of-287 (46.7%) from deep in his second season with the Yellow Jackets. Also, during the 2025-26 season, he reached 200 career 3-pointers across his stops at CSU Pueblo, Fort Lewis, and Black Hills State, as he sank his first triple of the day against UCCS on December 11. From beyond the arc in his five collegiate seasons, he is 246-of-587 (41.9%). During the 2025-26 season, the Preseason All-RMAC selection is currently averaging 9.8 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. He currently ranks sixth in the RMAC in total 3-pointers made (64) and is seventh in 3-pointers per game (2.29).
Ryan Thompson, in his eighth season as the head coach at Black Hills State, has guided the Yellow Jackets to a record of 164-70 during his career. The win at Northern State on New Year’s Day secured his 150th career victory, making him just the second coach in program history to reach 150 in their Yellow Jacket career, joining all-time win’s leader Mike Olson (179). His 2025-26 Yellow Jacket squad captured their third RMAC regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the RMAC men’s basketball tournament. The 25-win season is the third of his tenure, joining the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.
