JUCO tournament returns to Shawnee

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This year’s 2020 Region II National Junior College Athletic Association tournament scheduled for March 4-7 at Oklahoma Baptist University marks a milestone.

It’s the 25th consecutive year for the tournament to be played in Shawnee.

The committee is comprised of many of the same faces that began planning in 1995 to take it over and hosted it in 1996 at the same location where this year’s tourney will be played.

Larry Smith, one of the co-chairmen when it was played at OBU in 1996, now chairs the committee.

He says, “Robert Davenport, Athletic Director for OBU, has been a huge ally in our quest to continue to make this a great reward for the athletes but also for the citizens of the City of Shawnee.

“Seminole State College and the Seminole community have played an integral role in the 25 years the tournament has been hosted in the community of Shawnee, as did St. Gregory’s University in the few years it was there,” Smith said.

Those who have joined the committee through the years include Rick Gowin, Carl Packwood, Tim Barrick, Brad Walck, Kenny Howard, Rachael Melot, Nick Atwood, Amanda Johnson, Mike St. John, Davenport, Brian Dude and Tanner Morris.

Major sponsors include OG&E, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Pottawatomie Telephone Co. and Bravado Wireless and the City of Shawnee’s Tourism Department.

“TS&H has been one of those with us from day one too,” he said.

“These are in addition to the 40 or 50 other sponsors we have annually as well,” Smith said.

There will be four games played daily beginning on Wednesday, March 4, running through Friday, March 6, at 1, 3, 6 and 8 p.m. The final two games will be on Saturday afternoon at 2 and 4 p.m.

This year the women will play on Wednesday, the men on Thursday, and each will play Friday and Saturday in the semi-finals and finals.

Smith continued, “We’re helping kids move on to the next level. We’re giving them an opportunity to play before 40 or 50 college scouts and coaches, men and women.

“For a lot of these kids it’s the only way to get an education and in turn allow them to turn into the kind of people we want to be our leaders in the future,” he said.

He noted that because it’s played in Shawnee, “it provides the opportunity for coaches at OBU to look at 320 kids during this tournament each year.”

The eight women’s and eight men’s teams will be playing to decide which women’s and which men’s teams head to their respective national tournaments in March.

Ticket prices are $20 to attend all the games.