The games mark HCCC’s debut as a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 15 Division III. The celebration will begin with Amayra Younger and Sarah Marie Ortiz singing the national Anthem. The ceremonial tip-off will feature Allison Torres from the Hornets women’s team and Jephthe Alda from the HCCC men’s team as The HCCC Spirit Ensemble and Dance/Cheer Team will perform before the game and at half-time.
“This is an exciting time at HCCC and one that we have anticipated for years! All eyes are on the Hornets, our players and leadership,” said HCCC Interim President Dr. Lisa Dougherty. “We are confident the Hudson Hornets will make us proud as they enter this exciting new era of HCCC Athletics. Let’s go, Hornets!”
The Hudson Hornets women’s Head Coach is Carlos Cueto; Assistant Coaches are Isaura Guzman and Anissa Arteaga; and Managers are Nardos Teklu and Esther Victoria. The men’s Head Coach is Ethan Nardone; Assistant Coaches are Kevin Baksh, Eugene Antwi, and Jayquan Thomas; and the Manager is Giovanni Noel.
HCCC Director of Athletics Jonathan Sisk and Associate Athletics Director Shawn Bragg lead the College’s Athletics Program, which will be headquartered in the HCCC Center for Student Success. The 153,186 square-foot, mixed-use tower – currently under construction on the Journal Square Campus – will feature a full-size NCAA gymnasium, fitness center, walking track, and athletic training facility.
Visit the Hudson Hornets online at www.HudsonHornets.com, follow them on social media at @HCCC_Athletics, @HCCC_WBB, and @HCCC_MBB. The entire NJCAA schedule is available at https://www.njcaa.org/sports/teams/426651175991903416/schedule?sport=mbkb&season=2026-27&division=div1&tenant=418363877705647844
About Hudson County Community College
Hudson County Community College serves more than 20,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The College offers more than 90 degree and certificate programs, including award-winning English as a Second Language; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management; Nursing and Health Professions; and Humanities and Social Sciences. The HCCC Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management program was ranked number six in the U.S. by Best Choice Schools. The College’s School of Continuing Education and Workforce Development offers cutting-edge, industry-recognized, stackable credentials in alignment with high-priority workforce needs.
HCCC has partnerships with major four-year colleges and universities in the greater New Jersey-New York area and beyond, accommodating seamless transfer of credits for further undergraduate and graduate education.
The College has received dozens of national awards throughout the years. HCCC was a finalist in seven categories of the 2026 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) “Awards of Excellence” and earned 2026 Advancing Institutional Equity and Belonging, Faculty Innovation, and Faculty of the Year Awards, in addition to Dale P. Parnell Faculty Recognition. HCCC earned AACC 2024 “Awards of Excellence” CEO of the Year, Faculty of the Year, and Student Success Awards. In 2023, HCCC received the Outstanding Member-Institution Award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
For the sixth consecutive year, HCCC was selected as one of only a few community colleges in the United States to be named a “2026 Most Promising Place to Work in Community Colleges” by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). HCCC was one of 22 community colleges in the nation, and the only college in New Jersey, to be recognized by ModernThink LLC and the “Chronicle of Higher Education” as a 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 “Great College to Work For®” and named to the 2024 and 2023 “Great Colleges Honor Roll of Distinction.”
HCCC is one of two colleges in the United States to be named a Top Ten Finalist in all three program categories for the nationally recognized 2023 Bellwether Awards, and received the 2023 Bellwether Award for the College’s cutting-edge “Hudson Scholars” program, which also won the 2024 Bellwether Legacy Award. HCCC also earned the 2026 Bellwether “Best in Showcase Award.”
The College’s exemplary work in advancing student success has been recognized with “Leader College of Distinction” designation by Achieving the Dream, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community colleges as catalysts for equity and mobility in their communities. HCCC also earned the Campus Prevention Network Seal of Prevention in 2025, 2024 and 2023 for demonstrating leadership in digital prevention programming focused on student safety, well-being, and inclusion.
The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) named the College the inaugural recipient of the 2025 ACCT national “Impact and Success Award.”
