Lights land standout DCC transfer from Scobey

The Montana State University-Northern Lights have landed their second Montana standout in their 2020 recruiting class.

Northern head coach Shawn Huse announced Wednesday that the Lights have signed C.J. Nelson of Scobey. Nelson comes to Northern after two years at Dawson Community College, where he was the Region XIII Tournament MVP this past season. Nelson spent his freshman and sophomore seasons helping Dawson CC to two remarkable years.

With the versatile guard as a key leader, they made two great runs in 2018-19 and 2019-20, finishing 20-12 and 27-7 respectively. He averaged 11 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals on a very well-balanced, platoon-style attack for the Buccaneers this year.

“We are overjoyed on this one,” Huse said. “He is a tough guy who has always played extremely hard on both ends of the floor. A high-character individual and hard-nosed competitor, C.J. is, simply put, a winner in every way. We are very excited about how he will enhance our already-great group of guys, returners and newcomers. Agriculture and business are his focus of study, so this makes the perfect match for him and us.”

With Nelson, Dawson enjoyed a 27-2 season, going 14-0 in league play and winning the Region XIII Tournament in a thriller over Miles City CC, where he scored 12 points and dished out four assists in the championship game. Nelson also led the way with 16 points in the team’s clutch semifinal win over Williston State. The Buccaneer’s run came one game short of the NJCAA National tournament in the District Title game, in a loss at Indian Hills Community College. For his all-around efforts, he was tabbed Region XIII Tournament MVP.

“Raised well and coached well, C.J. is a focused guy who brings what is needed in a tough conference each and every day, both on and off the floor,” Huse said. “He is an exceptional defender and very smart offensive player, who knows how to make plays on both ends of the floor. He is just a great link that helps teammates and classmates to be better versions of themselves. I was really impressed talking about C.J. with coach Peterson and Devin Collins (Dawson teammate the past two seasons), specifically hearing how much everyone loved playing with him on their team in practices and games, and being around him every day.”

Nelson joins a Lights squad that finished 20-12 in 2019-2020. They won an impressive eight out of their last 11 games and narrowly missed an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament. MSU-N advanced to the semi-final round of the Frontier Conference Tournament before falling 68-73 to eventual champion Lewis-Clark State.