UA Fort Smith Athletics

            When then Fort Smith Northside coach Gayle Kaundart became head coach of the Westark Lions men’s basketball team in 1974, he was determined to turn the Lions into not only a regional power but mold them into a perennial national championship contender.
            And he did just that.
            With the help of his longtime assistant coach Jim Wyatt, Kaundart used his coaching genius and knack for discovering talent in some of the most obscure places to lead the 1980-81 Lions to the most-coveted prize in any sport – a national championship.
            Westark finished 33-5 overall, won the Arkansas State Tournament championship and the NJCAA Region II Tournament championship and claimed the program’s first-ever NJCAA national championship.
            That Lions team consisted of Reggie Martin, Brian Kelleybrew, Don Wilson, DeWayne Shepard, Glen Mays, Doug Brittain, Robbie Skulman, Tracy Fancher, Sherman Brown, Ronnie Wennberg, Scott Bigott, Maurice Hatton, John Wacker and manager Kenny Holland.
            Westark averaged 65 points per game and scored 80 or more points in a game seven times. They allowed only 51 points per game and never gave up more than 69 points in one game.
            Their five losses came against Independence (Kan.) Community College (69-63), Phillips County Community College (60-59), Seminole (Okla.) Community College (twice 50-48, 46-44) and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (54-46).
            Westark finished the regular season 23-4, and the Lions then won the Arkansas State Tournament championship with wins against El Dorado Tech (80-58), Mississippi County Community College (47-46) and Phillips County (56-35).
            That victory earned the Lions a berth in the NJCAA Region II Tournament best-of-three games championship series. Seminole won the opening game of the series 46-44, but Westark won the final two games 61-46 and 59-55 to win the series and clinch a berth in the NJCAA National Tournament.
            Westark hosted its first round game of the tournament against Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, beating the Blue Dragons 78-64. That win ignited an impressive run to the national title game by the Lions, who beat Fashion Institute Tech (87-55) in the second round, Chipola (Fla.) Community College (54-53) in the quarterfinals and Anderson (S.C.) Community College (78-66) in the semifinals.
            Sparked by Shepard’s 19 points and 10 rebounds and Kelleybrew’s 26 points, the Lions beat Lincoln (Ill.) Community College 67-50 to win Westark’s first national championship in any sport. During their tournament run, the Lions beat the Nos. 2, 3 and 5 teams in the final rankings.
            Shepard, who averaged more than 20 points per game during the tournament, was named MVP and All-Tournament, while Kelleybrew was named All-Tournament. Kaundart was named NJCAA Coach of the Year and earned his 200^th career win with the Lions’ victory over Anderson Community College in the semifinals.
            That Lions team held the distinction of being the only Westark team to win a national championship until 1994-95, when the women’s basketball team won its first national championship. It was the only men’s basketball team to win a national championship until 2005-06.