PASADENA, Texas – The San Jacinto College men's basketball team is headed back to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, slated for March 16 – 21 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas.
San Jac (28-5) fell to Tyler Junior College in the championship game of the Region XIV tournament this weekend, which kept them from earning the automatic bid. However, it wasn't enough to keep them out of the national tournament.
Trinity Valley Community College and Hill College were the other two Texas teams to receive an at-large bid, along with Butler College out of Kansas.
The return to Hutchinson is the first for San Jac since 2006, and the College's 20th overall trip to the national tournament. San Jacinto College last won the men's basketball national title in 1986, when the team went undefeated with a 37-0 record.
San Jac was the national runner-up in 2003. This is the first trip to the national tournament under Head Coach Scott R. Gernander, who is in his third season at the helm of the San Jac program.
The four at-large teams join the 16 district champions and four zone qualifiers to complete the 24-team bracket.
