By Tyler Cundith

One of the NJCAA’s most prolific conferences, the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference is dedicated to achieving the highest goals in the integration of academic and athletic endeavors. Individually, member schools have long been respected for successes both in its classrooms and its stadiums.

In all, the KJCCC is home to more than 3,000 student-athletes on 233 teams in the 19 men’s and women’s KJCCC-sponsored sports. The men’s programs regulated by the conference include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, indoor/outdoor track and field, soccer, tennis and wrestling. The KJCCC-regulated women’s programs include basketball, cross country, golf, indoor/outdoor track and field, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.

Entering the 2007-08 competitive seasons for 10 men’s championships and 10 women’s title-attaining sports, KJCCC member institutions can boast of 110 NJCAA National Championships in 12 different men’s and women’s sports. However, the success of the conference from 1990 through the spring of 2007 is unprecedented. Of the 110 national titles, 76 have come during that span, 38 during the 1990s and another 38 in the first seven years of the new millennium. In addition, 16 of its 19 members have won at least one national championship, and 12 have won two or more.

The KJCCC has produced more than 4,000 NJCAA All-Americans and a number of athletes have continued to excel on the NAIA, NCAA, Olympic and professional levels.

At the 2004 Olympics, former Barton County athletes earned a total of seven medals, including three gold medals. Among that group was Veronica Campbell, who won gold in the 200-meters and 4x100, and bronze in the 100-meters for Jamaica, and former Cougar Derrick Brew ran a leg on USA’s gold medal 4x400 relay.

Former Cowley baseball standouts Junior Spivey and Travis Hafner, and Fort Scott first baseman Adam LaRoche are making an impact at the Major League level, and former Kansas City Kansas sluggers David Segui and Kevin Young combined for 27 years of service, 2,419 hits and 283 home runs at the Major League level.

The Jayhawk Conference has also made an impact in the NFL, with 160 former players having played for all 32 teams in the league. Among that group include former Garden City running back Corey Dillon and former Coffeyville running back Mike Rozier, who also was the Heisman Trophy winner in 1983 at the University of Nebraska.

In professional basketball, 27 former
players have played in the NBA. In 1999, former Barton County center Alek Radojevic made history when he was selected in the first round by the Toronto Raptors with the 12th pick overall. On the women’s side, 10 former players have gone on to pro careers in the WNBA and ABL, including former Butler County guard Betty Lennox, who was the 2004 WNBA Finals MVP.

Several former athletes also went on to pro career in sports different from what they played while attending KJCCC schools. Basketball players Marcus Pollard of Seward County, James’ Buster” Douglas of Coffeyville and Steve Fritz of Hutchinson all went on to have successful professional careers in other sports. Pollard has played 12 seasons at a tight end in the NFL. Douglas is a former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion, and scored the biggest upset in the history of the sport by knocking out Mike Tyson in 1990 in Tokyo. Fritz was the 1997 U.S. national champion in the decathlon. He also hit the game-winning shot to give Hutchinson the 1988 national basketball title.

Organized in 1923, the Jayhawk Community College Conference arose out of the special needs of Kansas community colleges to create an organization which would further the best interests of intercollegiate athletics. Originally named the Kansas Public Junior College Association, the name Kansas Jayhawk Junior College Conference was adopted in 1962. Thirteen years later, the name as it is known today, the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference was adopted.

Composed of five members at the onset, the conference has changed its makeup several times. Long respected as the leader in academics and athletics in the NJCAA, the conference today has grown to a membership of 19 community colleges from the state of Kansas, divided into two divisions, the East and West.

Seven individuals have held the title of commissioner. Bryce Roderick, the current commissioner, is serving his fifth year at the helm. Roderick began his service as commissioner in July of 2003, succeeding Bennie Lee. He served one year as his assistant before taking the helm.

Roderick began his service to community colleges in 1973 when he was selected to the Garden City Community College Board of Trustees. He was elected to four terms and served 16 years. In July of 1989, he was hired as the Director of Recreational Sports and Coordinator of Facilities at GCCC, and served as Assistant Athletic Director until 2002. Roderick began his service to the NJCAA as Assistant Region VI Women’s Director in 1995 and became Region VI Director in 1996. He has served on the NJCAA Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of USA Track and Field. He is also co-chair of the NJCA Half Marathon, Cross Country and Track and Field Committees and serves on the NJCAA Volleyball and Softball Committees.

Last April at the NJCAA annual meeting, Roderick was awarded the George E. Killian Award of Excellence. This award is given to individuals dedicated to the ideals of volunteerism, achievement, service, leadership and excellence. Roderick is only the second women’s director to receive this prestigious award.