25 March 2024
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW) — For the 76th year, the NJCAA is back in Hutchinson, bringing thousands to the city. Brian Luckett with the NJCAA says some of the teams must stay in surrounding communities, such as Wichita, so there is an economic impact beyond Hutchinson.
LeAnn Cox, the vice president of Visit Hutch, says the student-athletes alone bring in about 500 people. There are 24 teams from 16 different states.
“That injection of people into the community, you see them all throughout the week,” Cox said. They’re out in our restaurants and spending time out and about being very visible, and our community just absolutely embraces that and really loves this week.”
Cox says Hutchinson becomes a goal for teams.
“We’ve established such a milestone for each team,” Cox said. “At the beginning of their basketball season, a lot of the teams on their websites will talk about the road to Hutch. It’s just that reputation that we now have as being that end goal for everybody at the end of their season, it’s really really cool.”
The arena holds a little over 5,500 people, and the days are broken into morning and afternoon sessions. Cox says they usually see attendance at about 25,000 for the week during NJCAA.
Cox says attendance may be higher this year because three Kansas schools, Hutchinson, Cowley County, and Barton County, are participating in the tournament.
“It doesn’t happen very often,” Cox said. “Obviously, Barton County is the No. 1 seed. That was a gimme. But then you really have to wait until the last minute before the seeding committee comes out with who those eight at-large teams are. So, for Kansas to have one at large is great. But this year, the quality of basketball in the state of Kansas in Region 6 just meant that we actually got two additional teams coming in so that really speaks volumes to how well our Jayhawk conference competes across the country.”
On Sunday and Monday, there are six games. On Tuesday and Wednesday, there are four games.
Friday is a rest day, and the final two teams will have a luncheon. Community members can buy tickets for the luncheon here.
Tickets for the tournament can be found here.