OKWU EAGLES: Winners on court, in classroom
Oklahoma Wesleyan University might be out of sight at this week’s NAIA National Men’s Basketball Championships, but the Eagles are not out of mind.
In fact, the Eagles mounted an unprecedented invasion of the NAIA 2023 Daktronics NAIA Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athletes.
OKWU placed 14 players on the team — the most of any school in the nation. Donnie Bostwick coaches the Eagles.
Qualifications include a 3.5 grade point average, nomination by the their head coach or the sports information director, be eligible for the team and have attended at least one full year at the institution.
The Eagle hoopsters, in alphabetical order, that earned the honor of Scholar-Athlete are: Brandon Bird, Kevin Classo, Jack Dutcher, Tyeler Hagan, Gaga Jahnke, Jaden Lietzke, Wyatt Patton, Aaron Paulukaitis, Austin Poling, James Reid, Landry Simmons, Derrick Talton Jr., Ethan Torrance and Jonah Wolters.
Talton, Bird, Lietzke and Poling were all starters on the court for the Eagles, while Paulukaitis was a regular off the bench.
OKWU finished 27-5 overall, including a combustible 20-2 regular season record in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Last week, the Eagles advanced one game deep into the NAIA national tournament with a 72-70 win against Concordia (Neb.), but Ottawa University (Ariz.) eliminated OKWU, 83-72.
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OKWU WOMEN
Six Lady Eagles earned a spot on the women's Scholar-Athlete team.
They included Esperanza Graham, Mahaley Farmer, Natalia Quiroz, River Jeffries, Sydnee Schovanec and Sylvia Skinner.
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CONFERENCE PICKS
The KCAC scorecard for Scholar Athletes is is:
MEN -- Oklahoma Wesleyan, 11; Kansas Wesleyan University, 8; Tabor (Kan.), 7; Bethany (Kan.), 6; Southwestern (Kan.), 5; Ottawa (Kan.), 4; Saint Mary (Kan.), 3; Bethel (Kan.), 2; Friends (Kan.), 2; and York (Neb.) (2).
WOMEN -- Tabor (Kan.), 12; Bethany (Kan.), 11; Oklahoma Wesleyan, 6; Kansas Wesleyan, 6; Bethel (Kan.), 4; Friends (Kan.), 4; Saint Mary (Kan.), 4; Ottawa (Kan.), 3; and York (Neb.),3.
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TOURNEY UPDATE
As mentioned, the OKWU Eagles lasted until the second round of the men's tourney.
The other three KCAC selections also have been nixed -- Jamestown (N.D.) eliminated Bethel (Kan.) in the first round, 81-70; Kansas Wesleyan lost in the second round to Morningside (Iowa), 87-80; Southwestern (Kan.) also went out in the round of 32 by losing to Langston, 87-65.
The NAIA men's national tournament is down to its last 16 teams at the finals' site in Kansas City, Mo.
The matchups are:
Monday, 1 p.m.: Tougaloo (Miss.) vs. St. Thomas (Fla.)
Monday, 3 p.m.: College of Idaho v. LSU Shreveport (La.)
Monday 5 p.m.: Ottawa University (Ariz.) vs. Southeastern (Fla.)
Monday, 7 p.m.: William Penn (Iowa) vs. Montana Tech
Tuesday, 1 p.m.: Georgetown (Ky.) vs. Langston
Tuesday, 3 p.m.: Grace (Ind.) vs. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Tuesday, 5 p.m.: Jamestown (N.D.) vs. Indiana Tech
Tuesday, 7 p.m.: Arizona Christian vs. Morningside (Iowa)
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: OKWU leads nation with most men's basketball Scholar-Athletes
