It wasn’t long ago that Isaiah Reams was making a run with the Bulldogs in the state tournament.

Two years after that historic season, the former Mexico star finished his junior college basketball career at North Central Missouri College in Trenton last month. The Pirates qualified for the NJCAA Division II National Championship Tournament and advanced as far as the quarterfinals to close their season at 27-8.

Reams was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs from two years ago that made it to the state quarterfinals following a school-record 28-win streak to begin the season. He was among NCMC’s top scorers as the Pirates tied a school-record 27 wins (initially set in 2019-20), averaging 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.6 steals, a 56.6 field-goal percentage, a 42.3 3-point percentage and 80.8 free-throw percentage.

“It was a great season where I had a lot of fun,” Reams said. “Making it nationals has been done a few times at NCMC but not a whole lot. It was a great feeling.”

The NCMC national tournament berth this year came via an at-large bid and was its sixth in school history. The 13th-seeded Pirates finished 2-2 and earned both of those victories to open their run with a 93-72 victory over United Tribes Technical College and an 82-80 upset win over No. 4 Macomb College in the Sweet 16. Reams finished with a near triple-double of 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists against United Tribes and then scored his tournament-high 27 points with a career-high five 3-pointers against Macomb.

NCMC lost in the quarterfinals to No. 5 seed and eventual national champion National Park College 83-74 and were eliminated by Milwaukee Area Technical College in a 92-85 shootout. Reams finished with a near double-double of 19 points and nine rebounds against Milwaukee Area as the Pirates shot 44 percent from the field, but Milwaukee Area countered with 49 percent shooting.

In four tournament games, Reams finished with averages of 17.5 points, six rebounds, 3.5 assists, two steals and hit eight total 3-pointers.

“It was an amazing experience that was nothing like I’ve experienced before, traveling and playing against some of the best teams in the country and proving we are one of the best teams,” Reams said. “A lot of our chemistry and our hard work we put in helped get us to that point. We pushed each other every day.”

Players only play for two years at junior colleges before transferring so there is much roster turnover. Reams said this was especially true for the Pirates this season as there were only four players that returned from last year, making them have the youngest starting lineup in the tournament, according to head coach Jeremy Esry on social media.

Still, he said the freshmen were able to integrate fast and bond with each other. Reams was actually the second-leading scorer on the team behind freshman Tyler King, a St. Louis native who averaged 21.6 points.

“They did a great job coming right in and doing what they had to do,” Reams said. “It was their first year of playing college basketball, but they did a great job of coming and filling the shoes of people that left.”

Reams was obviously a college freshman once that posted a solid debut campaign of 9.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals, 51 percent shooting from field, 36 percent shooting on 3-pointers and 63 percent on free throws. With a big freshmen class coming in, he said coaches pushed Reams to be the best he could be.

“They had a lot of expectations of me so they pushed me every single day,” Ream said. “Whether I liked it or not, they were going to get the best out of me every day. My coaches just told me I need to be more aggressive on offense.”

Reams credits the encouragement and preparation of his coaches to help him “make those numbers jump.” He lost track of how many hours the coaches were in the gym with him to “work on his craft” while he built himself into a better offensive player.

While Reams is a better offensive player now than he was two years ago, he said has always tried to be a versatile player, affecting the game with his rebounding, passing and defense. Defense, especially, for Reams saw an uptick as he doubled his steals this season to 56 along with surpassing 648 points in 35 games this season.

“From Year 1 to Year 2, I definitely had a lot more confidence,” Reams said. “Obviously, it’s a lot harder competition at this level. I know that, if I’m wanting to be able to keep up, I just got to put the work in. It’s really what it comes down to.”

Accomplishments in life need to be earned, Reams said, as NCMC earned its selection into the tournament. The Pirates knocked off several nationally ranked teams during the regular season, including No. 2 Johnson County Community College, to start a season-high 14-game winning streak before going undefeated in Region 16 regular season play.

Reams said Esry at NCMC reinforced this, but this lesson has roots in Mexico. Prior to entering college, Reams had several workout sessions in the summer with Bulldogs head coach Darren Pappas. Reams even initiated some sessions by contacting Pappas as Reams felt it was natural behavior after his time as a Bulldog.

“Coach Pappas is a great coach,” Reams said. “He told all of us from Day 1 that nothing was going to be given to us. He helped prepare me a lot going into my college season. He focused a lot on defense in high school, and that was something I was able to translate a lot over to college.”

For whichever program Reams joins next, it will obtain a player who has averaged 14.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals, a 54.8 field-goal percentage, a 40.1 3-point percentage and a 75.5 free-throw percentage in 62 career college games.

Reams doesn’t want to rush his decision as he needs to take the time to contact coaches and visit schools to find the best fit for him. As he returned home to Mexico for Easter last week, he was looking to short-term goals that would hopefully help his long-term development, which Reams said couldn’t have happened without coaches, family and teammates. He said he doesn’t “plan on stopping anytime soon” since he still has “a really long ways to go.”

“It starts with really staying in shape, getting the weight room and getting some cardio in because the last thing I want to do is get out of shape in the postseason,” Reams said. “Also, I want to make sure I’m getting on the court, getting shots and working on my handles. It’s just the basic things to keep improving and make sure I’m ready for the next level because it’s going to be even harder.”