By John Mesh
The NJCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament will be held at the historic Hutchinson Sports Arena for the 77th consecutive year dating back to 1949.
The NJCAA men’s basketball tournament schedule tips off Saturday with a new schedule. The tournament used to start on a Tuesday. Last year’s tournament started on a Sunday.
Instead of six games being played on the first day and six the next day, there will be four games played on each of the first five days of the tournament.
Game times for the first five days are noon, 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday is a day off. The semifinal games start at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday. Saturday’s championship game is at noon and will be televised on ESPNU.
The first game of the tournament on Saturday will feature No. 16 John A. Logan vs. No. 17 Connors State, noon. Connors State is the defending national tournament second-place team. Connors defeated Hutchinson in the semifinals last year.
Other first-round games Saturday are No. 15 Triton vs. No. 18 Columbia State, 2:30 p.m.; No. 20 Monroe vs. No. 12 Angelina College, 5:30 p.m.; and No. 14 Vincennes vs. No. 19 Three Rivers, 8 p.m.
Barton Community College’s defense of its 2024 NJCAA Division I championship begins with a 5:30 p.m. Sunday matchup against No. 21-seed South Georgia State.
The Barton Cougars (25-8), ranked 14th in the last NJCAA DI regular-season poll, are the No. 14 seed.
Other first-round games Sunday are No. 24 Brunswick vs. No. 13 Chipola, noon; No. 10 Pensacola State vs. No. 23 Trinidad State, 2:30 p.m.; and No. 11 Frank Phillips vs. No. 22 Wallace State, 8 p.m.
A victory would send the Cougars to Tuesday’s noon matchup against fellow at-large bid recipient and No. 8-seed Daytona State College (27-5).
The Cowley College men’s basketball team is the No. 2-seed at the 24-team NJCAA Men’s Tournament.
The Tigers will open play at the national tournament at 2:30 p.m. Monday when they face the game winner between No. 15-seed Triton College (28-5) and No. 18-seed Columbia State (27-4).
All 23 games will be broadcast on Eagle Media radio stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) and KHUT-FM (102.9).
The day games will be on KWBW, while the evening games will be broadcast both on KWBW-AM/FM and KHUT-FM.
The first 22 games will be streamed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription, and the national championship game will be live on ESPNU.
2025 NJCAA Division I Men’s Tournament Pairings
Saturday-Saturday, March 22-29
Hutchinson (Kan.) Sports Arena
First Round (Saturday-Sunday)
Saturday
No. 16 John A. Logan vs. No. 17 Connors State, noon.
No. 15 Triton vs. No. 18 Columbia State, 2:30 p.m.
No. 20 Monroe vs. No. 12 Angelina, 5:30 p.m.
No. 14 Vincennes vs. No. 19 Three Rivers, 8 p.m.
Sunday
No. 24 Brunswick vs. No. 13 Chipola, noon.
No. 10 Pensacola State vs. No. 23 Trinidad State, 2:30 p.m.
No. 21 South Georgia State vs. No. 9 Barton, 5:30 p.m.
No. 11 Frank Phillips vs. No. 22 Wallace State, 8 p.m.
Second Round (Monday-Tuesday)
Monday
No. 1 Snow vs. John A. Logan/Connors State winner, noon.
No. 2 Cowley vs. Triton/Columbia State winner, 2:30 p.m.
No. 4 South Plains vs. Chipola/Monroe winner, 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 Indian Hills vs. Vincennes/Three Rivers winner, 8 p.m.
Tuesday
No. 8 Daytona State vs. Barton/Brunswick winner, noon.
No. 7 Trinity Valley vs. Pensacola State/Trinidad State winner, 2:30 p.m.
No. 5 Jones vs. Angelina/South Georgia State winner, 5:30 p.m.
No. 6 Panola vs. Frank Phillips/Wallace State winner, 8 p.m.
Quarterfinals (Wednesday)
Game 17, noon.
Game 18, 2:30 p.m.
Game 19, 5:30 p.m.
Game 20, 8 p.m.
Semifinals (Friday)
Game 21, 5:30 p.m.
Game 22, 8:30 p.m.
Championship (Saturday)
Game 23 NJCAA Championship Game, noon.
Omaha’s NCAA tournament run ends with first-round loss to St. John’s
The Omaha Mavericks’ NCAA Tournament hopes ended with an 83-53 loss to St. John’s Thursday night in a first-round West Regional game at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I.
Former Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons’ standout Kamryn Thomas played 24 minutes for the Omaha Mavericks. He scored 5 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.
Valentino Simon, who also played at HutchCC, did not play in the game for Omaha.
Omaha (formerly the University of Nebraska-Omaha) battled the Red Storm throughout the first half, trailing at halftime 33-28.
St. John’s outscored the Mavericks 50-25 in the second half.
Omaha, the Summit League regular-season and postseason tournament champion, finished the season with 22-13 record.
JJ White led Omaha with 15 points. Marquel Sutton scored 11 points, Tony Osburn 9 and Isaac Ondekane 7.
RJ Luis led the Red Storm (31-4) with 22 points. Simeon Wilcher scored 13 points, Zuby Ejiofor 10 and Kadary Richmond 10.
St. John’s (coached by Rick Pitino) will play Arkansas (coached by John Calipari) in a second-round game at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday.
Arkansas defeated Kansas 79-72 in the first round Thursday.
Bob Davis, former “Voice of the Jayhawks” dies
University of Kansas Athletics
Bob Davis, the legendary “Voice of the Jayhawks.”for more than 30 years, has passed away at the age of 80, his family announced Friday.
Davis is survived by his son, Steven, daughter-in-law Katie and grandchildren Landon, Will, Millie and Hattie. He was preceded in death by his wife, Linda, who died March 13, 2025, in Lawrence. Bob and Linda were married for 53 years. Bob passed away Thursday.
Davis, who began his KU career in 1984 and retired in 2016, was at the microphone for some of the most iconic moments in Kansas Athletics history.
“Bob Davis is synonymous with Kansas Athletics for generations of fans, who grew up listening to his calls of some of the most important moments in KU history.” Director of Athletics Travis Goff said.
“Bob’s love and passion of the Jayhawks shined through during the broadcast with his beloved radio partners. For more than three decades, Bob represented Kansas Athletics in exemplary fashion and connected Jayhawk fans everywhere with his famous one-liners and detailed storytelling.
“We send our deepest love and prayers to his family and will forever be grateful for his service to KU.”
In the spring of 1984, Davis was hired as the “Voice of the Jayhawks,” where he would work alongside Max Falkenstein in the broadcast booth. Davis’ voice is the soundtrack of many of KU’s most memorable games, as he called eight Jayhawk trips to the Final Four, six KU football bowl games, including the 2008 Orange Bowl, and thousands of regular season basketball and football games before his retirement in the spring of 2016.
Davis was also on the call for the 1988 and 2008 men’s basketball national championship victories.
“We lost a KU legend in Bob Davis, who was the voice of the of the Jayhawks for decades,.”Kansas Coach Bill Self said. “Bob was not only superior at his craft, but he was also a terrific, humble and unselfish person that gave so much of himself to so many. Our hearts go out to the entire family, especially with his wonderful wife Linda passing just last week.”
Davis also hosted weekly coaches shows as the Voice of the Jayhawks, including hosting with KU basketball coaches Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Self and football coaches, including Glen Mason and Mark Mangino.
For more than three decades, Davis was embedded with KU’s teams, striking lifelong relationships with coaches and student-athletes. He proudly worked alongside Falkenstein and basketball analysts Chris Piper and Greg Gurley and football’s David Lawrence.
“Bob’s distinctive and enthusiastic voice served as the soundtrack for Kansas teams for decades.”Mangino said. “He was a good friend and fun to be around. Our players and coaches loved Bob, and enjoyed his calls on highlight reels.”
A 48-year veteran of broadcasting in the state of Kansas, Davis was born in Iola, and grew up in Topeka where he graduated from Topeka West High School in 1962. Davis stayed in Topeka to attend Washburn, where he graduated in 1967 with a degree in history.
Davis was hired by KAYS in Hays and began his broadcasting career during the summer of 1968 calling American Legion baseball. He was the play-by-play voice of the Fort Hays State Tigers until 1984, his tenure culminating by calling the 1984 NAIA National Championship won by the FHSU men’s basketball team.
In addition to his KU role, Davis called the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four for CBS Radio six times in 1990, 1992 and 1994-97. Also, in 1997, Davis joined the Kansas City Royals as well, calling games for radio and television for the franchise for 16 years.
Davis earned numerous accolades for his work. He was named the Kansas Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sports Writers Association in 2015, marking the 14th time he had earned the honor since 1975.
Davis was also named the two-time recipient of the Oscar Stauffer Sports Broadcasting Award by the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) in 1975 and 1978.
Davis was named to several Hall of Fames, including Fort Hays State Tiger Athletics Hall of Fame (1990), Kansas Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame (2006), Topeka West HS Graduates Hall of Fame (2011), Topeka-Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame (2016), Kansas Sports Hall of Fame (2016) and Hays HS Athletics Hall of Fame (2024).