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The meteoric ascension from role player on his strong Nixa High School teams to one of the top players nationally in NCAA Division II of Drury Panthers guard Kameron Bundy has to be one of the great basketball stories in the Ozarks in recent years.
 
And Coach Steve Hesser's Panthers certainly hope it comes with a successful and dramatic final chapter as they ride the considerable skills of the 6-foot-2 senior guard one last time toward what they hope is a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA-II tournament in Bundy's four seasons at DU.
 
Bundy enters the 2015-16 campaign as not only a consensus Preseason All-America selection (by three different services) and the consensus favorite for Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year honors, but the one constant for the Panthers surrounded by a sea of new faces in the DU lineup this winter as Drury looks for its third league title in four seasons.

It certainly showed in Drury's lone exhibition contest of this preseason, when the Panthers rode a 40-point outburst from Bundy to a 99-92 overtime win over Missouri Baptist. It was a chance for Hesser and his staff to get a glimpse at the many new faces on the squad and try to clean some things up before DU opens for real on Friday with a 7:45 p.m. tipoff against Southwestern (Kan.) College at The O'Reilly Family Event Center. That follows a Lady Panthers exhibition game against Lyon College tipping off at 5:30 p.m. on the second annual "Salute To Service Night," with all current or retired members of the Armed Forces, police, fire, EMT and Highway Patrol - and their families - admitted free for the doubleheader by showing an ID at the box office.
 
Bundy has been instrumental in the Panthers' post-season success each of his three seasons at DU, serving as the first guard off the bench to the senior backcourt of All-American Alex Hall and Brandon Lockhart on Drury's 2013 national championship team as a freshman, to taking over the scoring load the past two years to the point where he enters his final campaign ranked No. 25 on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,219 points. His stunning 40-foot, overtime buzzer-beater to down Quincy last January at the O'Reilly Family Event Center earned national acclaim as GEICO's National Play of the Year award-winner.
 
Bundy, who led the Panthers with his 17.5 points per game, 105 assists and 63 steals for a 21-9 squad, will likely need to kick those strong numbers up even another notch or two in the early going, as Hesser and his staff discover the right lineup combinations to make DU its usual conference and regional title contender by the time the stretch run arrives. The Panthers will attempt to reach the NCAA-II tournament for the ninth time in the past 11 years under Hesser, who takes a 244-88 overall mark (highest winning percentage - .735 - in DU history) into his 12th season at the helm.
 
The most likely scenarios?
 
Drury gets a strong offensive contribution from explosive 6-0 sophomore transfer guard Tevin Foster (Labette Community College) - who opened with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals in the exhibition game against Missouri Baptist - and 6-3 senior guard Lucciano Gamiz. Meanwhile, Hesser and his assistants will be deciphering which two or three from a group of six players 6-6 or taller – including five new faces – wind up on the floor with them.
 
Foster, a starting defensive back for the football team at NCAA Division I South Dakota as a true freshman out of Lawton, Okla., switched full-time to basketball a year ago and averaged 20.1 points per game last season at Labette, where one outing was a 47-point outburst fueled by eight made 3-pointers. He was also the top scorer in the state of Oklahoma as a prep senior at Lawton, where he averaged more than 23 points per game.
 
Gamiz battled injuries and the usual acclimation to Coach Hesser's system befitting of juco transfers in playing 21 of DU's 30 games last season, but has looked good in preseason work as he's grown more comfortable in the offense and gained a full understanding of Hesser's philosophy and expectations on defense.
 
The front-court group includes 6-7 sophomore Drew Moore, who scored in double-figures four times last year while playing in all 30 games as a freshman, and several talented newcomers. Nadir Alston (6'8", Jr.), Joshua Palmer (6'7", Jr.) and Jamal Cummings (6'7", Jr.), all bring solid juco experience to the table, while freshmen Douglas Moore (6'7") and Allen Hyatt (6'6") played on the big stage in their high school careers at Lawton, Okla., and Park Hill South (Kansas City), leading their teams to state championship game appearances last March.
 
Backcourt depth for the Panthers comes from 6-1 freshman John Williams (Topeka, Kan.), former Strafford High star Grant Boswell (6'4") – who had his Indians team in the state title game as well last March - and Connor Cooley (5'10", Marshall, Mo.).
 
Drury enters the 2015-16 season ranked No. 19 nationally in the D-II Bulletin preseason Top 25 poll and No. 16 according to the NABC Coaches Poll, and will be challenged early on by its typical, demanding non-conference slate.

That includes a short trip up Highway 13 next Tuesday to battle Southwest Baptist in the "Highway 13 Cat Fight," a mid-December journey to Las Vegas to take on perennial NCAA-II powers Tarleton State and Angelo State in the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic, followed by the once-again rigorous journey through the GLVC, the nation's top NCAA-II basketball conference.
 
Highlighting DU's home schedule at the O'Reilly Center – where the Panthers are 44-4 over the last three seasons – are visits from perennial GLVC East and national powers Indianapolis (January 14), Southern Indiana (February 4) and Bellarmine (February 6) plus battles with traditional GLVC West rivals Quincy (January 28) and Truman State (January 30) and a three-game stretch to finish the regular season against Maryville (February 18), Missouri-St. Louis (February 20) and Missouri S&T (February 25).

Tickets are available by calling (417) 873-6389, and once again for 2015-16, kids 12-and-under are admitted free to all regular season DU Basketball home games.