SLCC basketball: College coaches flock to JC tourney

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Sports Arena here is the annual site of the National Junior College Athletic Association's Division I basketball championship.

But the old-school gym also looks like it hosts an NCAA college logo fashion show with mostly middle-aged men as the models.

Sporting apparel with their programs' colors and mascots, big-eyed coaches from four-year programs flocked here this week from all over the country — from Hawaii (Bob Nash) to West Virginia (Bob Huggins).

A bunch came from the Beehive State for the unofficial coaches convention, too, including Utah Valley's Dick Hunsaker, Weber State's Randy Rahe, Dixie State's Jon Judkins, Utah State assistant James Ware and Southern Utah's Johnny Brown. Louisiana Tech coach Kerry Rupp, who formerly coached at Utah and East High, also showed up.

Hunsaker calls the tournament "a collection of the greatest junior college talent in the country," which turns it into a mecca for coaches. About 150 coaches from every conference in the country will attend the NJCAA tourney, Ware guesstimated.

The coaches still sticking around today will get a chance to watch SLCC try to earn a spot in the NJCAA final at 5 p.m. against Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College.

While it's fun for many coaches to fraternize — friends Ware and Rahe even shared a hotel room — Hunsaker wouldn't mind if the only college insignias at the tournament were those from NJCAA schools. That'd make his job easier.

"I'd rather see none of those logos. I'd prefer zero," Hunsaker said with a laugh. "Any gathering of a talent pool like this, you're going to see a busload of coaches show up to watch."

Like most, USU comes to keep tabs on sophomores and to start building a freshman recruiting list.

"If they're here, they're here for a reason," Ware said. "It's pretty much the best in the country."

The coach circus is why SLCC coach Norm Parrish said the juco tourney is "absolutely" a jackpot for his players.

"Now that we're (in) 'Hutch' the recruiting thing really breaks out. ... It's kind of nuts, but that's the way it works," he said. "It'll be good for them."

As an example, Parrish referred to the Bruins' last trip here in 1994. Going in, then-SLCC center Chad Kartchner was only being talked to "a little" by SUU. After a fifth-place finish, however, the center was invited for official visits to LSU, SUU, Portland and Charleston Southern, where he ended up going.