The Top 10 Kansas small-college sports stories of 2015

Here’s a look at the top 10 state/junior college stories of 2015:

1. The rise and fall (and rise?) of the Blue Dragons — In March, the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team finished as NJCAA runner-up for the third time in four seasons, going 143-5 under coach John Ontjes in that run. What came after may come to define the program. In May, the NJCAA announced it was investigating the program for possible violations. In July, penalties came down after the investigation determined Ontjes gave two players excess benefits outside of their scholarships for the 2014-2015 school year.

The penalty phase provided more drama. The NJCAA stripped the Blue Dragons of six scholarships over the next two seasons — from 15 to 11 in 2015-16 and 15 to 13 in 2016-17. Jayhawk Conference commissioner Bryce Roderick added more penalties: Hutchinson would forfeit all of its 2014-15 victories, and the Jayhawk West and Region VI championships. He also placed Hutchinson on probation and made them ineligible for postseason play in 2015-16. Hutchinson appealed and was able to keep its Region VI title, national runner-up finish and will be eligible for a conference title and postseason play this season. And why is that so important?

It’s important because Hutchinson, with only nine active players on its roster, is 13-1 and ranked No. 8 in the country.

2. Butler’s woes — Butler Community College’s men’s basketball team lost one of the best junior-college coaches in the country when Mike Bargen left to become an assistant at Bradley in April. His replacement, longtime Division I assistant Brian Barone, was hired in June from Wisconsin-Green Bay and only coached three games for Butler before taking a leave of absence after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Andover on Nov. 5, his second alcohol-related driving arrest in two years. Butler’s board of trustees accepted Barone’s resignation on Dec. 9.

3. Hornets make history — Emporia State football coach Garin Higgins, a former ESU quarterback, guided the Hornets to the first two NCAA Division II playoff wins in school history before losing to eventual national champion and MIAA foe Northwest Missouri in the quarterfinals. Senior quarterback Brent Wilson joined the ranks of the greatest players in school history and was a Harlon Hill Trophy finalist.

4. Jetting home — Newman men’s basketball, chasing another NCAA Division II Tournament appearance, made a big splash in May when coach Mark Potter landed two high-profile, Division I transfers in Wichita natives Gavin Thurman (Missouri State) and Jalen Love (Denver), both with one year of eligibility left. The jury is still out on this one — Newman is 7-3 after dropping its first two Heartland Conference game and was next-to-last in the Heartland in scoring defense at 81.8 points per game.

5. Dismissal pits players against coach — It wasn’t that McPherson College softball coach Ashley Spencer decided to throw Jenna and Kristin Kaiser off the team that caused problems. It was how she did it, turning the Kaisers into school administration for bullying concerns that were never substantiated.

6. Butler busted out of bowl picture — Butler’s football team finished the season 9-2, ranked No. 5 in the nation and shared the Jayhawk title with Dodge City, which Butler defeated 38-14 on Oct. 10. That, and three wins over Top 10 teams wasn’t enough to get the Grizzlies a spot in the Jayhawk’s bowl game, the Salt City Bowl in Hutchinson, which snubbed Butler in favor of Dodge City. With a fan base that has proven it travels well over the last two decades, Butler being snubbed in a bowl game played at the stadium of its longtime rival, Hutchinson, raises questions as to what the point of having a bowl game in the Jayhawk is and the objectivity of those who picked Dodge City over Butler.

7. Final Four for Grizzlies — All the news at Butler wasn’t bad this year, as the women’s soccer team made the NJCAA national semifinals for the second time in three seasons, where the Grizzlies lost to Iowa Central. Butler coach Adam Hunter, in his ninth season, has built a national power in El Dorado — it was the team’s fifth straight appearance in the national tournament.

8. Internal shakeup at Friends — New Friends president Amy Bragg Carey made her first big move before even taking office, replacing longtime athletic director Joe Zimmerman with Vice President of Student Affairs Carole Obermeyer in June, with Obermeyer serving in both roles. The school said Zimmerman’s move to Business Operations Specialist wasn’t a demotion, even as Obermeyer indicated the move was made over financial concerns within the athletic department.

9. Wake-up call — The gap between KCAC football teams and the rest of the country proved as big as ever, despite a regular season that ended with two teams, Tabor and Kansas Wesleyan, in the Top 10, and despite rule changes over the last four years to try and get the league up to a nationally-competitive level. KCAC runner-up Kansas Wesleyan lost its NAIA playoff opener 52-8 at national runner-up Southern Oregon. KCAC champion Tabor defeated Doane (Neb.) in the first round then lost 51-6 to Morningside (Iowa) in the second round.

10. Eck wins No. 500 — Hutchinson men’s basketball coach Steve Eck won his 500th game as a junior-college coach on Dec. 5 with an 86-77 victory over Allen County. Hutchinson is Eck’s fourth stop as a junior-college coach, following stints at Butler, Redlands (Okla.) and Cowley. He also won 227 games as South High’s boys basketball coach from 1986 to 1996.

The Blue Dragons are 15-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country.

▪  Here’s the top 10 stories from 2014.

This story was originally published December 25, 2015 at 4:58 PM with the headline "The Top 10 Kansas small-college sports stories of 2015."