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GO DRAGONS WIN STATE

GO DRAGONS WIN STATE The championship is a 32-team, single-elimination tournament featuring 13 automatic qualifiers from 11 Division I affiliated conferences, two automatic independent qualifiers, and 17 at-large berths. The tournament bracket will be released at 5:00 p.m. (CST) on Wednesday, March 8. First-Round on Wednesday, March 14 and Thursday, March 15, with eight games: 9 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 6:15 p.m., 8:45 p.m., and 10:30 p.m. (Note: Last two games on Thursday are at 8 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.). Second-Round on Friday, March 16, with eight games: 9 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 6:15 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9:45 p.m. Quarterfinals on Saturday, March 17, with four games: 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Semifinals on Monday, March 19, with games at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Championship on Tuesday, March 20 at 7 p.m. (CST) Coaches meeting, 3 p.m., Tuesday, March 13, Doubletree Hotel Downtown, Woodward Room Tip-Off Banquet, 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 13, Greenwood Cultural Center, 322 North Greenwood Parade of Champions, 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 14, Convention Center All-tournament tickets (9 sessions): $60 for adults and $40 for youth (under 14). To order all-tournament tickets prior to March 1, call 918/494-8828. After March 1, call Carson Attractions at 918/584-2000. Single session tickets: Day Session - Adult-$6.00, Youth/Senior Citizen - $4.00; Evening Session- Adult - $10.00, Youth/Senior Citizen-$8.00. Single session tickets are available March 1 by calling Carson Attractions at 918/584-2000 or visiting Carsons at the Convention Center. All prices include service charge. Other charges may apply for phone and credit card orders. Team and fan travel needs can be managed by Anthony Travel (1-866-284-NAIA), the official NAIA travel agency. For local transportation, contact Enterprise Rent-a-Car at 918/832-1818. NAIA Tournament Headquarters is located in the Dover Room at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown (616 W. 7th Street, 918/587-8000). Twenty teams will stay at the Doubletree and 12 teams will stay at the Tulsa Southern Hills Marriott (71st & Lewis, During my sophomore and junior years at Wayne State College (Wayne, NE), I was a member of basketball teams that qualified for the NAIA Tournament held in Kansas City, Missouri at the Municipal Auditorium. My memories include the great hospitality provided to us by our team sponsors. This included going to dinner with them at a great Kansas City restaurant and eating a fabulous steak (I can still taste it). Maybe my most vivid memory is walking from our hotel to the arena through the labyrinth of crowded tunnels. Hundreds of fans and teams (in their colorful warm-ups) would be walking to and from the games and the excitement was palpable. On the first night of the tournament (Monday), the opening ceremony took place. The cornerstone of that ceremony was a parade of all the teams (32 teams from all over the nation who had played their way into the tournament). Those teams, in a combined effort, spelled the letters N-A-I-A on the court, just before the 7:00P game. What a thrill it was to participate in that opening ceremony. I fell in love with Kansas City because of my NAIA experiences and I have been fortunate enough to live in this great city since 1976. I look forward to going to the tournament this year and watching great basketball played by true student athletes. I’ll also let my mind wander back in time to those great March days in 1969 and 1970 when I was treated like a celebrity, even if I played sparingly. Thank you for bringing the NAIA back home! OBU's Return to Kansas City Touched By History Ray Fink, Oklahoma Baptist University Editor's Note - Oklahoma Baptist has qualified for the 2002 tournament The NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament returns to Kansas City next month and the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist University will bring a lot of history of their own to the tournament. OBU lost in the last championship game played in Kansas City, falling to Hawaii Pacific in Kemper Arena in 1993. The Bison also were the first team to qualify for the return trip to Kansas City, claiming the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title and the first automatic berth Monday night. On Tuesday evening, Biola won the 10-team Golden State Athletic Conference crown. "I think any time you can add to the tradition of a program like OBU it is special," said second-year Bison coach Doug Tolin. "I think all of us feel a sense of responsibility to the people who have built this program over the years, so it is nice to be able to carry forward. We have put ourselves in a position, we hope, to add more to the tradition." OBU won its only national championship in men's basketball in the 1965-66 season, sandwiched between runner-up finishes in 1965 and 1967. Al Tucker was the Most Valuable Player of the 1966 and 1967 tournaments. Tucker passed away May 7, 2001, and as a tribute, the Bison wear his number on a black patch on their jerseys. John Parrish, now executive vice president at OBU, served as the university's sports information director during the Tucker era. He also returned to the OBU sideline this season as the play-by-play announcer for the radio and internet broadcasts of Bison basketball, a position he held for nine seasons, stepping down just before OBU's magical season in 1992-93. "It is the fulfillment of a dream I had 25 years ago when I started broadcasting OBU basketball," Parrish said. "When the Bison played in Kansas City in 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1973, I was public relations director and sports information director and not a play-by-play broadcaster. In those days, I sat on the bench with the team, kept a play-by-play of the game, and then contacted all of our media outlets after the game. I started broadcasting in the fall of 1973 and continued through 1979. I returned to the broadcast booth in 1989-90 and continued through 1991-92. We went to Kansas City the year before I started the first time and the year after I finished the second time, so I have never broadcast a game from the national tournament." The tournament's return to Kansas City makes it all the more special for Parrish. "Obviously, broadcasting a national tournament game from Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium will be fun and a trip down memory lane," he said. "I would be in Kansas City even if I wasn't broadcasting because I'm a fan. I have seen all of the national tournament games the Bison have played since I joined the OBU staff in 1964 * a total of 41 games, of which we have won 31." OBU was 15-3 in Municipal Auditorium's tournament, with one national championship trophy and two runner-up trophies. Parrish has seen the glory years of OBU basketball and while he isn't making any predictions publicly, he likes the look of this year's team. "This experience also will be very satisfying because I have so much respect and admiration for coaches Tolin and (assistant coach Lance) Johnston and the 2001-02 Bison team," Parrish said. "The Bison have worked hard and played very well this year, and they have been wonderful representatives of OBU. I have seen all but two of their games this year and I know that their play has been very consistent. This has been a season of significant achievement." Bibliography:

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