Danville Area Community College has been hosting the NJCAA Division II National Tournament since 1994. And in this 30th edition, which runs Tuesday through Saturday of next week (March 21st -25th), there is a special incentive for the future.
DACC Vice-President of Student Services and tournament director Brian Hensgen recent joined Laura Williams on 1490 WDAN’s weekly DACC Radio Show. He recalled that after Coach John Spezia’s DACC men’s team had their title in 1991; the thought started growing: What if WE hosted the finals?
AUDIO: After John’s team won the national championship it just seemed like an economical way of doing things. And it seemed to work out; and obviously the NJCAA continues to appreciate our local leadership and our local buy in from the volunteers and all. They’ve come to recognize that Danville is one of the exclusive national championships in the country when it comes to junior college athletics.
The DACC men’s and women’s teams both assembled in Mary Miller Gymnasium Tuesday (March 14th) to hear their tournament assignments. While the men are at home playing at DACC’s annual event, the women will be in Port Huron, Michigan seed as the 12th seed in the women’s tournament.
Hensgen says a great thing about all the teams coming to Danville is, they get to know the entire area.
AUDIO: They’re not going to be playing 24 hours a day, so they need to fill their time. They’re going to go to the bowling alleys. They’re going to go to the restaurants. They’re going to visit our different areas. You know, they go read to the schools, and different things. So there’s a lot of positives that come out of this.
Later this year, DACC will find out if they will continue to host the tournament. And Hensgen says, they fully intend to do so.
The NJCAA Division II National Tournament will be at DACC for the 30th straight year; Tuesday, March 21st through Saturday, March 25th.
AUDIO: Back in August we submitted a bid to meet the needs of the NJCAA for a two year agreement, which would be 2024 or 2025. We hope that near the tournament, or just after the tournament, we will have an understanding of what the future is. For sure we’ll know during the national convention, which is the week of April 10th in Charlotte, North Carolina.
And this year, Coach DaJuan Gouard and the DACC men’s team are participants, with their first game set for 6:30 PM Tuesday night against Johnson County, Kansas.
To hear Laura Williams’ entire interview with Brian Hensgen, please go to: https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/dacc-radio-show-on-demand/
