SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
Hutchinson High School graduate and current Washburn University men's basketball coach, Brett Ballard, has guided his Ichabods team to the NCAA Division II Tournament Elite Eight following a 93-65 win over Minnesota State University Moorhead on Tuesday evening in Topeka.
Ballard is in his eighth season at Washburn and has guided the Ichabods to the MIAA regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the Central Region.
Ballard is a 1998 graduate of Hutchinson High School. He then played one season at Cowley College and one at HutchCC, where he graduated in 2000. Ballard then played his final two seasons at Kansas under Roy Williams.
The Ichabods are now 29-3 on the season as they travel to Evansville, Ind., where they will play in the Elite Eight next week.
This is the fourth trip to the NCAA Elite Eight for the Ichabods, joining the 1993, 1994 and 2001 teams.