This week, Odessa College was selected to host the men’s and women’s 2026 NJCAA Division I Region 5 Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history.
The men’s and women’s tournament will take place from March 10-14 at the OC Sports Center.
Odessa College athletic director Wayne Baker talked more about excitement and opportunities that Odessa College will have in hosting next year’s regional tournament.
“I think it falls in line with our mission of what we’re trying to do,” Baker said at a press conference Wednesday at the OC Sports Center. “We’re lucky enough to have great facilities, great community support and great administrative support. We like to be able to show off our product. We have as good facilities as anyone in the country. I think having the entire region here and see our multimillion dollars worth of new buildings on campus will be good. A lot of people in West Texas haven’t seen our campus or know what we have here at Odessa College.”
The tournament will feature the 16 top men’s and women’s teams from the Region 5 including the Western Junior College Athletic Conference and the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.
The top four teams from the WJCAC and the NTJCAC will face off against each other with the winning team getting an automatic qualifier for the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament.
Tournament activities begin March 10 with team practices and culminate in the regional final games on March 14.
The event will be attended by more than 200 NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA coaches, making it one of the top recruiting showcases in junior college basketball.
For two seasons, the Region 5 Tournament has taken place at a NTJCAC school.
This year, the tournament was hosted by McLennan Community College in Waco while Weatherford College hosted last year.
Odessa College was one of four WJCAC institutions to submit a bid to host the tournament, which has rotated annually among Region 5 colleges since returning to campus-based hosting in 2023–24.
Baker talked about some of the things that are considered when the bid is awarded.
“I think access ability,” Baker said. “There are a bunch of hotels in Odessa and the Chamber of Commerce has been really good. You’re taking 16 colleges and bringing in hundreds of recruiters and bringing them to Odessa for that event. It needs to be one where the airport is close. The hotels are plentiful and the restaurants are plentiful. Our seating meets the requirement. Our gym is really good and accessible. Our community is willing to host this event. We have a wonderful chamber that helps us host these types of events. We hit all the categories.”
As far as hosting the event, Baker talked about how much that will help recruiting at Odessa College.
“I think that’s always a feather in your cap when you’re able to host events,” Baker said. “I’m hoping we’re going to host baseball and softball on our campuses this spring and you have to win at a certain level to do that and win the conference. That’s a huge thing and coaches would say that with recruiting, you have a better chance of getting a higher level person if you can say ‘we’re at the top. We’re able to host these kinds of events.”
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