When Hank Plona was named the 17th head men’s basketball coach at Western Kentucky a week ago, it didn’t take long for him to be reunited with one of his former players.
Braxton Bayless, who played for Plona at Indian Hills Community College, has committed to the Hilltoppers as a graduate transfer.
“It was a no-brainer being with coach Hank,” said Bayless, a former Ankeny star. “He’s been the guy I trusted the most through all of this basketball, and that won’t change with the way he treats people and goes about things.”
Bayless spent two years at Indian Hills before transferring to Niagara, where he appeared in 29 games this season and led the team with an average of 11.5 points per game. He helped the Purple Eagles to a 16-16 record.
With one season of eligibility remaining, Bayless announced last month that he was entering the transfer portal. Several schools showed an interest in him, including Cal Fullerton, Illinois-Chicago and St. Louis.
But the opportunity to play for Plona again was too good to pass up.
“This was the best option for me to come in and impact winning and to have a good shot at making the NCAA Tournament,” Bayless said.
Western Kentucky posted a 22-12 record this season in its only campaign under Steve Lutz, who left to become the head coach at Oklahoma State. The Hilltoppers lost to Marquette, 87-69, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
In eight seasons as a head coach, Plona has won 86.5 percent of his games and led Indian Hills to eight consecutive ICCAC regular-season titles, six postseason conference titles and the NJCAA National Tournament seven times.
Plona joined Lutz’s staff as an assistant at Western Kentucky last year. He played an integral role in helping the Hilltoppers return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 by winning the Conference USA Tournament as the league’s No. 3 seed.
One of Plona’s all-American stars from Indian Hills, Don McHenry, is already on the WKU roster. He was named all-CUSA and CUSA Tournament MVP while averaging a team-best 15.1 points this season.
Another Hilltopper, Enoch Kalambay, played with Bayless at Indian Hills under Plona during the 2021-22 season.