Hutchinson, Kan. - The Northeast Mississippi Community College men's basketball program hopes to find the yellow-bricked road to success as it journeys nearly 750 miles to one of the oldest and most prestigious sporting events in the country.
The Tigers were announced as the No. 20 seed for the 2016 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Tournament, which begins on Monday, March 14.
Northeast was matched against Salt Lake (Utah) Community College in the first round of The Tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on opening day inside the historic Sports Arena.
"I thought it was a justified seed for us based on our record," said Tigers head coach Cord Wright. "Our guys like challenges. They're excited about being there, but they've got that feeling that they want a little bit more."
Northeast (18-9) is making its eighth appearance in the tradition-rich 69-year history of The Tournament, which started in 1948 at Springfield, Mo., and moved to its present location one year later.
The Tigers claimed their first regional crown since the 1999-2000 campaign to qualify for the national championship event. Northeast won three games in as many days, including the title tilt versus East Mississippi Community College.
Wesley Harris guides the Tigers with team-highs of 18.4 points and 8.3 rebounds. He hit the winning shot for Northeast as time expired in the NJCAA Region 23 championship contest.
Leroy Buchanan follows him with 14.1 points and 5.5 points per game, which are both second highest on the squad. Kendarius Smith, Desmin Harris and Raheem Sorrell are each barely below double figures as well.
Smith tops the Tigers with 3.4 assists each outing while Buchanan paces his team with 1.9 steals on average. Northeast holds its opponents to a 30.1 percent clip from three-point range, which is twelfth best in the entire country.
The Bruins are the No. 13 seed and punched their ticket to the Sunflower State by capturing the NJCAA Region 18 title plus a one-game playoff with Cochise (Ariz.) College for the NJCAA District 1 crown.
Salt Lake (26-8) is thirteenth in the nation with 90.9 points and nineteenth at 32.6 made field goals per contest. Tyler Rawson paces a balanced lineup for the Bruins with 15.7 points and 8.3 boards in the post.
The winner between Northeast and Salt Lake will play Odessa (Texas) College (27-5), which received a bye as the No. 4 seed, in second round action at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15.
Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College, which has held the top spot in the NJCAA's rankings for a majority of the season, garnered the No. 1 overall seed for The Tournament and is on the same side of the bracket as the Tigers.
Northwest Florida State College is the No. 2 seed on the opposite end from Northeast. Other schools of interest include the host squad Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College at No. 7 and East Mississippi in the No. 22 slot.
The NJCAA Division I National Tournament is played in a single-elimination format with 24 total teams representing 18 states from the eastern seaboard to west of the continental divide.