Yesterday, I connected with John McCarthy, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' (NAIA) Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Director. College basketball fans are always thankful for the start of the NCAA season and the anticipation of March Madness. But, if you really love basketball and college hoops, you must pay attention to or attend the NAIA tournament this year and beyhond. There's a reason it's dubbed "College Basketball's Toughest Tournament," and McCarthy will fill you in on why it rightfully deserves that claim.
John McCarthy is an asset to the game of basketball, and he's always putting into the sport. He's knowledgeable, passionate, and clearly a winner. It was an honor to have some of his time to learn more about his career, the NAIA, and its revered tournament.
I hope you enjoy learning about John and the NAIA as much as I did. Here's the exchange.
(Two Johns. Two Winners. McCarthy + Wooden)PRC: You've had a very successful career thus far; give us a background on some of the roles you've held as a coach, athletic administrator, and entrepreneur? How did these experiences lead you to your current position with the NAIA?
John McCarthy: I’ve been fortunate to have been involved, in various capacities, in collegiate athletics for about 18 years. As a young coach, Fran Fraschilla (Manhattan, St. John’s and New Mexico Head Coach, now with ESPN) had told me that, “If you really do something you love for the rest of your life, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Now, I’ve put in a tremendous amount of time and effort over the years, but it’s been tremendously rewarding to be so involved in collegiate athletics.
During my time thus far, I’ve been an Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach and Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Wilmington College (DE), an Assistant Coach at Lynn University (FL), and then the Athletic Development Director and Athletic Director at Lynn University. I then broke off to create McCarthy Sports with the intent of creating the Collegiate Basketball Invitational. The creation of the Collegiate Basketball Invitational was genuinely a passion and a dream come true. Eventually, this led to the position at the NAIA as the Director of the NAIA’s Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship.
PRC: Tell us a little bit about the NAIA....How many registered member institutions and conferences are there?
McCarthy: For the 2009-10 academic year, we have 291 member schools within the NAIA. The NAIA began in 1937 with a basketball tournament created by Dr. James Naismith (Founder of the game of basketball) at Baker University and the first Executive Director of the NAIB, the precursor to the NAIA) and Frank Cramer (Founder of Cramer Athletic Products). The first tournament was an eight-team tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, MO, and was won by Central Missouri State Teachers College (now the University of Central Missouri). The next year, the tournament morphed into the current format of 32 teams all competing on one court during the course of a week to eventually crown the National Champion. Again in 1938, Central Missouri State Teachers College won the National Championship.
Now, with the 2010 tournament upon us, we are heading into the 73rd annual event, which makes this tournament the longest continuous collegiate national championship of any sport in the United States. By 1952, the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (as it had been known since 1940), began to offer National Championships in additional sports; thus, a name change was appropriate and the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) was adopted.
In addition to its longevity, there have been tremendous historical “firsts” that have been attained through this tournament and through the NAIA. Without writing a book (which has been done – and will likely be done again in the future), the NAIA has been the first to allow blacks to compete in collegiate basketball national championships (when Clarence Walker stepped onto the court at Municipal Auditorium on March 8, 1948 for Coach John Wooden’s Indiana State Teachers College team), the first to allow historically black colleges into membership (1953), this first to have a historically black college win a National Championship (Tennessee A & I men’s basketball won National Championships in 1957, 1958 and 1959 with star, Dick Barnett, and legendary Coach, John McLendon), the first to allow women to compete in National Championships (1980), the first to launch championship sports festivals and the first national association to launch a national character-driven initiative (Champions of Character).
Take a moment to re-read the previous paragraph. We’re talking about some major initiatives. You will note that the NAIA has been on the forefront of change in intercollegiate athletics, and in several cases, it can be argued that the NAIA has been the impetus for change in our society.
PRC: I keep hearing about the famous NAIA postseason tournament. As the Director of the Division I Tournament, how would you describe the tournament. How is it structured?
McCarthy: It has recently been dubbed “College Basketball’s Toughest Tournament”, and I think that this is appropriate. You’ve got to win five games, against the top teams in the country, in one week. Think about this from a coach and player perspective: If your first round game is on Thursday, you’ve got to win on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday to become the National Champion. Five wins, against the top teams in the country, in six days.
Now think about this tournament from a fan’s perspective: 32 teams. 31 games. All on one court. Early morning until late night (or early morning again) of basketball. And get up the next morning and do it again…..and again. It’s a basketball junkie’s dream! We have all tournament ticket holders that have been coming to this tournament for over 60 years in a row. We have Honorary Coaches who are on their second generation and others who have been involved for over 25 years. This tournament means a great deal to a great number of people.
As a History major and a basketball junkie myself, I find this tournament to be tremendously important from a historical perspective to both the game of basketball and to the City of Kansas City, MO.
PRC: I recently read an article that stated the tournament will be staying in Kansas City through 2013. How important is it to preserve the event's location when looking at the big picture?
McCarthy: Kansas City is the appropriate home for the NAIA and for this tournament. It’s where it all began, back at Municipal Auditorium. For a period of time, the tournament was moved to Kemper Arena in Kansas City, and then to Tulsa, OK. If history is supposed to teach us anything, it’s to learn from our past. Without being disrespectful to either of those sites that worked hard to serve as the home of the tournament for a period of time, the tournament lost a little of it’s luster over that period of time. Now, since 2002, the tournament is back home. We aim to restore much of that luster and magic back into the tournament and we intend to be at Municipal Auditorium for many years into the future.
PRC: If you had to cite 3 reasons to get basketball fans more in tune with happenings around the NAIA, what would they be?
McCarthy:
1) History of the tournament and the arena.
2) Basketball junkie’s dream: 31 games all on one court in a week to determine the National Champion.
3) Pure form of college basketball at a high level. The competition level is much higher than most people think or understand, yet the national media coverage is not nearly the scope of some other levels of basketball.
As a few final notes, I would like to encourage basketball fans to visit our tournament web site at www.naiahoops.com and to join our Facebook page (please just type in “NAIA Basketball National Championship”) to learn more about the tournament. There are basketball fans from around the country to make the trip to Kansas City for the annual tournament, and I encourage basketball junkies to add this to your list of events that you attend. The 2010 tournament is March 17-23 at Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, MO.
Finally, I would like to thank you, Peter Robert Casey, for the opportunity to spread the word about this great basketball tournament.
