Anyone willing to share the text of that story here? The site asks me to change my browser's cookie settings in order to read the story, and while I'm sure the Hutchinson, KS, newspaper's site has many compelling stories, I'm not prepared to make that commitment.
Here you go.
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Practically sure Ontjes is No. 1
Speaking frankly
By Brad Hallier
I'm not 100 percent about the proclamation I'm about to make. I'm not even 95 percent sure.
I guess in the sports world, about the only thing for sure is people will make a story out of a nonstory (Richard Sherman). I guess you can only report on Peyton Manning's use of the word "Omaha" about 1,000,000 times before you have to find something else.
At any rate, here's my proclamation - John Ontjes is the best coach in junior college women's basketball.
I'll venture another guess and say Ontjes is one of the five best coaches in all of women's college basketball.
But see, I don't really know that for sure. In this world where ESPN and the like are calling anything "the best," (listen to Jon Gruden talk), I'm reluctant to say for sure that Ontjes is the best. There could be a juco coach in Texas that is better than Ontjes. Maybe someone in some small California juco, or in Walla Walla, Wash., is a better coach.
And of course, there's that Geno Auriemma guy at Connecticut, and Kim Mulkey at Baylor, who have two of the top five spots locked up.
But here's what I do know. What Ontjes is doing at Hutchinson Community College these days, and in a lot of the days before, is pretty amazing. So amazing that I hope you've taken time out to watch the Blue Dragons. They're in the middle of an unprecedented run of success that we may never see again.
We'll take a look at some numbers - like win percentage - later on. For now, let's take a look a few simple facts.
This season, for the first time, Jayhawk Conference basketball teams can have eight out-of-state scholarship players. In previous years, the maximum was six. It was an effort to help even out the playing field, to help teams that have struggled catch up with the top dogs. It was also a move to help the Jayhawk Conference, supposedly, compete nationally with the Texas, Florida and Arizona schools, many of which offer full scholarships. Kansas junior colleges can only offer partial athletic scholarships.
If you look across Jayhawk Conference men's basketball, the talent level seems to be down. Only No. 19 Hutchinson is ranked, and it seems Kansas will get just one team into the NJCAA Tournament this season. Last year, the final year of the six out-of-state scholarships, Kansas had two teams - Region 6 champ Hutchinson and at-large Coffeyville.
Ontjes did not use his full allotment of eight out-of-state scholarships. Even if he was playing by the old rules, he wouldn't have filled the maximum. Ontjes, this year, has just five out-of-state players.
On the surface, it would be safe to assume the Blue Dragons have five ringers using those out-of-state scholarships. How else could a Kansas team be ranked No. 3 with an unblemished 18-0 record?
In reality, Ontjes has done it with three Kansas starters. Three. Some Jayhawk Conference teams probably don't even have three Kansans playing significant minutes. Yet, Ontjes starts three Kansans. His best player - sophomore guard Jamie Patrick - is from Hutchinson. The starting front-court players are Kansans - sophomore Bri Starks (Hutchinson) and sophomore Kiarra Jones (Overland Park).
And even with three Kansas starters, Ontjes has the Blue Dragons with a perfect record going into Saturday's game at Pratt.
Let's compare how Ontjes has pieced together his roster to other top NJCAA teams.
Top-ranked Trinity Valley, Texas, a juggernaut program that has won consecutive national championships, has two Texans on the entire roster.
Fourth-ranked Chipola, Fla., has two Floridians on the roster
Sixth-ranked Central Arizona - last year's runner-up - has four Arizonans on its roster.
Of course, other junior college women's teams are rich with in-state talent. Walters State, Tenn., for example, has eight players from Tennessee. So it's not like Ontjes is going against the trend of using locally-grown talent.
But when you include the fact Ontjes doesn't have a single full scholarship to hand out, it makes it even more impressive.
Speaking of impressive, if you're still not convinced Ontjes could be the NJCAA's top coach, let's look at some numbers.
His record at HCC is 204-24, meaning he's won more than 89 percent of the games he's coached. Of those 24 losses, eight came in his first season, when he got the job in August when former coach Nathan Daume picked up an assistant job at Division I Florida Gulf Coast.
Basically, Ontjes' win percentages are so obscene that they're like gas prices. You know when gas prices go up, they shoot up? Or when gas prices drop, it's a penny this week, two pennies next week? Well, when the Blue Dragons win, you barely notice Ontjes' win percentage go up. When they lose, that number shoots down, much like when gas prices go up.
* Since Ontjes' first season, Hutchinson's record is 180-16, a 91.8 win percentage. Of those 16 losses, four have been at the NJCAA Tournament.
* Ontjes' teams are 121-3 in the Sports Arena, a 97.5 win percentage. The Blue Dragons have won 93 games in a row at the Sports Arena. And not every game has been a blowout. Remember the double-overtime thriller against Johnson County two years ago? Or the 3-pointer by Chelsea Small that broke a tied game with Cloud County in the final seconds that same season?
* Ontjes' teams have won three straight Jayhawk West titles and are the only undefeated team left through four games this season. Not even the great Jim Littell - the Seward County legend who now coaches a top-10 team at Oklahoma State - won four straight Jayhawk West titles.
* Ontjes has coached the Blue Dragons to three Region 6 titles, including the last two. Littell won four Region 6 titles overall in his illustrious 14-year juco career.
* The Blue Dragons were briefly ranked No. 1 last season, a rare feat for a Kansas school in Division I.
* In the last four seasons, Ontjes' Blue Dragons are a jaw-dropping, head-shaking, eye-popping 120-6 (it's OK, you can do a double-take).
You could point out that there's one thing Ontjes hasn't done - win a national championship. And that in order to be the best, you have to be the best.
Maybe. But with everything Ontjes has accomplished - in Kansas, without full scholarships, using many Kansas players - I'm about 94.9 percent sure Ontjes is the best juco coach in the country.
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