Hutchinson Community College Athletics

That’s because the NJCAA Men’s National Division I basketball tournament has been contested in Hutchinson every year since 1949. So you can just imagine what the Sports Arena is like when the Blue Dragons are playing in the tournament – it’s a madhouse.

The first NJCAA Tournament was played in March 1948 in Springfield, Mo. After a financial disaster in Springfield, the tournament was moved to Hutchinson and Convention Hall (now known as Memorial Hall), and one of the most unique traditions in all of sports was born.

In 1952, the City of Hutchinson built the Sports Arena, which has been home to the tournament since then. The Arena had a capacity of more than 4,800 at first, more than double Convention Hall. Now with a capacity of 7,000, the Sports Arena is a raucous venue when the Blue Dragons are playing in the NJCAA Tournament.

The Blue Dragons have played in the NJCAA Tournament 16 times, fourth most in tournament history. Officially, the NJCAA national records have Hutchinson listed with 18 tournament berths. The Dragons twice lost in what was called Bi-District games to the Oklahoma-Arkansas champion after winning the Region 6 championship. Those Bi-District games are acknowledged by the NJCAA as tournament berths.

Regardless of what number fans use as the “official” number of appearances, the Blue Dragons have a long and successful history in the NJCAA Tournament

After several years of coming close, the Blue Dragons finally won their first men’s basketball national championship in 1988. Six years later, Hutch was again crowned champion of junior college basketball. The Dragons are tied with seven other teams for third place on the all-time list of champions with two.

Hutch has played in four championship games – 1949, 1973, 1988 and 1994 – which is tied with three other teams for fourth on the all-time list. Officially, the 1973 national runner-up finish isn’t recognized because of the use of an ineligible player.

Here are some more staggering numbers about HCC in the NJCAA Tournament:

+ Hutch is 40-21 all-time in NJCAA Tournament games played in Hutchinson.

+ The 40 victories are fourth most in history.

+ The 61 games played are fourth most in history.

+ Hutch and San Jacinto, Texas, are tied for second with nine Final Four appearances.

+ The Dragons have placed in the top eight 13 times, which is fourth most in history.

Thanks for the invitation

Hutchinson’s first tournament appearances in 1949 and 1957 were by invitation because teams traveling from each coast didn’t have the money to make the trip to Hutchinson. The Blue Dragons made the most of each appearance.

In 1949, Hutch entered the tournament with a less-than-impressive 10-9 record. But what transpired over the next five days was truly the beginning of Blue Dragon basketball as their longtime and dedicated fans know it.

The 1949 Dragons, coached by Charles Sesher, reeled off three straight wins over Sayer, Okla., rival Dodge City and Grant Technical School, Calif. The Dragons moved on to the finals after a 55-53 victory over Grant when Rich Mercer hit a shot late after missing two free throws.

Hutch’s Cinderella story came to an end in the title game, losing to powerful Tyler, Texas, 66-64. After trailing by six points with three minutes left, Hal Davis scored with 10 seconds left to pull within 66-64, but time ran out on the Dragons.

Coach Sesher announced his retirement during the 1957 season and even though the Dragons didn’t win Region 6, they got one last chance to send their coach out on a high note. When New York City Community College bowed out because of a lack of finances and an ineligible player, Hutchinson was offered an invite to fill out the field.

After a tough 52-51 loss to Eastern Arizona in the first round, the Dragons reeled off three straight victories over Miami, Okla., Joliet, Ill., and Arkansas City Junior College to finish fifth.

The start of the glory years

Sam Butterfield was chosen to take over the Blue Dragons program before the 1957-58 season began. Butterfield wasted no time getting the Blue Dragons back to the NJCAA Tournament.

In his first season at Hutch, the Dragons qualified in 1958. After two blowout victories against Mesa, Colo., and Snead-Boaz, Ala., the Dragons met up with Kilgore, Texas. Hutch fought back from nine points down late in the second half to tie the game, but wound up losing 83-78. Hutch finished third in 1958 with a 97-88 victory over Cameron, Okla.

Butterfield’s teams went to four national tournaments in his nine-year HCC tenure, finishing sixth in 1960 and fifth in 1961.

Like Sesher, the Dragons found their way to the NJCAA Tournament in Butterfield’s final year as coach. Winning the 1966 Region 6 championship and once again two decisive wins in the first two rounds of the tournament, the Dragons were back in the Final Four. Cameron, Okla., ended Butterfield’s final run at an elusive national championship with a 91-86 semifinal win. HCC finished third with a double-overtime 74-73 victory over Dallas Baptist.

The tradition continues

HCC’s next three coaches all got the Blue Dragons to the NJCAA Tournament at least once, but Gene Keady leads all Hutchinson coaches with five tournament berths in his eight years.

Keady’s first four tournament teams finished 12th (1968), 12th (1969), sixth (1971) and eighth (1972). Keady’s 1973 team may have been the Blue Dragons’ best team to date. The Dragons came into the 1973 tournament with a 26-3 record and a spectacular player named Rudy Jackson.

The Dragons were on fire offensively in the first three games of 1973, scoring 107 points against Southeastern Iowa, 99 points against North Greenville, N.C., and 83 against Olney Central, Ill., in the semifinals. The Dragons wound up losing 80-61 to Mercer County, N.J., in what was the first of two straight national championships for that school.

But the story wasn’t over for HCC.

Because of a false transcript received at Wichita State, the school Rudy Jackson transferred to, the Dragons were forced to vacate their runner-up trophy, even though HCC officials were unknowing of anything wrong. The transcript they received on Jackson was forged and it was later discovered that Jackson was never listed as a graduate from John Bowne High School in New York. A recruiter who brought Jackson to Wichita State’s attention, admitted to the wrongdoing.

After Keady moved on, both Dick Gisel and Gary Bargen had their turns bringing Hutch home to the national tournament.

In 1975, Gisel did just that, finishing eighth. Bargen did the same thing in the final year of his seven-year run, finishing third.

No. 1 Finally

When Dave Farrar came to Hutchinson, the Blue Dragons were 0-12 in NJCAA Tournaments. That all changed with one extraordinary week in March of 1988.

After defeating Jayhawk East rival Independence by 30 points at Independence to win the Region 6 championship, the Blue Dragons had put together a school-record 33 wins entering the NJCAA Tournament. After early scares from Chipola, Fla., and Shelby State, Tenn., the Dragons easily defeated Mattatuck, Conn., 86-63 in the semifinals to earn a third berth in the NJCAA championship game.

The Dragons overcame a 12-point first-half deficit to defeat Kankakee, Ill., 76-74. Future United States Olympian Steve Fritz scored a three-point play with 22 seconds left to give the Dragons the lead, but Hutch’s fans had to wait out a five-minute discussion about where a technical foul would be called on the Dragons because the fans littered the floor with debris after Kankakee’s final shot went over the backboard, but time hadn’t ran out.

No technical was administered and the Dragons finally celebrated their first national championship in the tournament’s 41st year of existence. Maurice Brittian was named the ’88 Most Valuable Player.

Steve McClain was an assistant on that 1988 national championship team. When Farrar took the Middle Tennessee State job after the 1991 season, McClain was promoted to the top spot. Three years later, McClain added his name to the list of Blue Dragon legends.

With a one-two punch not truly seen at Hutchinson since the days of Richard Morsden and Stan Blackmon in 1971 and 1972, McClain had Roy Hairston (Purdue) and Ben Davis (Arizona) to overpower teams.

The Dragons defeated Bossier Parish, La., and Chattahoochee Valley, Ala., in the first two rounds, then had to defeat Connors State, Okla., 80-79 in a semifinal war. Lucas Wagler hit two free throws with 14.7 seconds left to give the Dragons the win.

Then in the 1994 championship game against Three Rivers, Mo., and Raider coaching legend Gene Bess, the Davis-Hairston combination clicked for 38 points and Davis hit two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to clinch the win.

Hairston was named the ’94 tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Trip No. 16

The Blue Dragons have qualified for the NJCAA Tournament only once since 1994, but it may have been the least likely team to ever make it to Hutch.

Already with nine losses, Randy Stange’s final HCC team played rival high-powered Butler County – led by All-American Lee Nailon – in the Region 6 championship game. In what was one of Stange’s best coaching games ever, the Dragons upset the Grizzlies 66-56 at Wichita State’s Levitt Arena to earn the program’s 16th NJCAA Tournament appearance.

Hutch lost a hard-fought first-round game to San Jacinto, a team equal to Hutch in tournament prestige. An overtime victory over Wabash Valley, Ill., and a loss to Bossier Parish, La., rounded out the 1997 tournament run for the Dragons.