Sports

Results: NIRSA 2007 National Intramural Basketball Championships

Part of the National Campus Championship Series

By Bryan Bansbach, The Ohio State University

The 2007 NIRSA National Intramural Basketball Championships were held April 13-15 on the campus of The Ohio State University. After three days of action, only two of the 45 squads could call themselves national champions. The University of South Carolina-Upstate played their way to the women’s title, while Howard University took home the men’s division.

As winners of the Boston regional tournament, Howard University dominated the men’s bracket, winning by an average of 15 points heading into the final game. To claim the trophy, they defeated Florida State University, who reached the championship game by knocking off defending champion and No. 1 seeded Columbus State University in the quarterfinals.

In the women’s bracket, the final game was a meeting of No. 1 seed University of North Texas and No. 2 seed University of South Carolina-Upstate. In a game that went down to the wire, South Carolina-Upstate, led by tournament MVP Tammy George, outlasted North Texas, 55-52, to claim the title.

To go along with the team championship honors, two team sportsmanship awards were also handed out. The Bears of Ivy Tech Community College were recognized as the top men’s team, while the women’s award went to University of Florida’s X-factor.

The women’s All-America Team included MVP Tammy George and teammate Katie Downing, both representing the University of South Carolina-Upstate. Joining them were Tamesha Graves and Karlanda Butler of North Texas and the tournament’s leading scorer, Laura Greiger from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The men’s All-America Team consisted of tournament MVP Aki Thomas from Howard University, and teammates Arthur Crowder and Charles Prince. Also selected were Prince Salmon of Columbus State University and Gabe Burden of Florida State University.

All-America officials

Tournament staff

Charged with calling the action, the All-America officials were as follows: James Abarquez (University of Central Florida), Kyle Bohinc (University of Kentucky), Aaron Brooks (University of Akron), Ashley Gilpin (University of Arizona), Jon Randle (University of North Texas) and Todd Thomas (Georgia Southern University).

A special thank you and job well done goes out to all players, coaches, officials, and volunteers who helped make this tournament a huge success. All those involved around the country did an excellent job in assisting NIRSA with the execution of this tournament.

Ohio State was privileged to host the event and looks forward to an even better tournament next year. Hopefully all of this year’s teams will visit Columbus again to make another run at the 2008 NIBC title.

Thanks to the NIBC Tournament Staff

• Kenny Hill, The Ohio State University
• Kerry Kemp, The Ohio State University
• Nate Scott, The Ohio State University
• Renee Kam, The Ohio State University
• Melissa Caulfield, The Ohio State University
• Eric Fletcher, The Ohio State University
• Josh Dietrich, The Ohio State University
• Charles Anderson, University of Illinois
• Jeff Schmitt, University of West Florida
• Charlie Burk, University of Kentucky
• Kevin George, Rowan University
• Sam Mayhew, University of Mercer
• David Gaskins, East Carolina University
• Brad Whittaker, Ohio University
• Kurt Klier, University of Maryland
• Jason James, University of Georgia
• Dave DeAngelo, The Ohio State University
• Carl Bowman, The Ohio State University
• Natosha Harris, Millersville University
• Dana Moore, San Jose State University
• Darci Doll, The University of Texas at Austin
• Jerrod Jackson, Texas A&M University
• Scott Flickinger, Ithaca College
• Amy Fawcett, University of Cincinnati
• Julie Foster, University of Alaska Anchorage
• Andy Milton, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
• Todd Jackson, Cornell University
• Rodney Hainline, The Ohio State University
• Rebecca Cegledy, The Ohio State University
• Kari Miller, The Ohio State University
• Christina Hardin, The Ohio State University
• Mirum Washington White, University of Arizona
• Chad Ellsworth, Arizona State University
• Dan Hazlett, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Andre Love, Oakland University
• Becky Dahl, University of Wisconsin
• Rusty Vineyard, University of Missouri
• Betsy Johnson, Cornell University
• Mark Hoying, University of Dayton
• Stan Shingles, Central Michigan University
• Rob Jech, The Ohio State University
• Calvin Diggs, Vanderbilt University
• Ashlei Harris, Clemson University
• Courtney Angelo, The Ohio State University
• Nicole Widmer, University of Arizona
• Kyle Bohinc, University of Kentucky
• Derek Neil, Purdue University
• Ryan Amato, The Ohio State University
• Megan Morris, Bowling Green State University
• Lindsey Kidd, Bowling Green State University
• Tim Storch, Bowling Green State University
• Michael Soeder, Bowling Green State University
• Cody Jennings, University of Kentucky
• Meg Wagner, Ithaca College