The Official Blog of OC Athletics
Friday, March 17, 2006
WES McKINZIE, Blog Host
Call this the unkindest cut of all. We were set up for a storybook moment - Coach Hays leads OC to the Elite 8 for the first time and earns his 500th OC victory in the process. The team knew Texas Wesleyan would be a tough opponent because the Eagle-Ram games are always close. But OC always wins ... until Friday.
The national tournament curse continues, but OC hoops has moved to another level. This stretch of three NAIAs in four years is the best ever for the Eagles under the current qualification format. And OC has advanced to the Sweet 16 in all three of those appearances.
Brady Page became the first Eagle to play in three national tournaments. It will be different with him not running the point next year. Seniors Dillon Ripley, Drew Cross, Kendrick Jackson and Gary Jones played their final games for OC. Dillon had a great first-round game, Gary played some good minutes in the opener, and Drew and Kendrick made huge contributions in the Sweet 16 game. Drew had a solid tournament; it was a nice finish for a guy who worked his way up to varsity from the JV team.
The tournament atmosphere is great in KC. I’d love it if the NAIA would figure out a way to move the women’s tournament here and either stagger the events or play them in two different venues like the Big 12 does with its tournaments. These days, half of the 32 teams in each field are schools that have teams in both tournaments, so it would make sense from a logistics standpoint for fans, staff, etc.
On the flip side, Jackson has been a great host city for the women through the years ... and it makes for a pretty fun road trip if you go to both tournaments. FYI: going from OKC to Jackson to KC back to OKC is only about four hours longer than doing the OKC/Jackson/OKC round trip. Not too bad ...