Kansas natives and former Cougars Ray Bechard and Mike Warren honored as NJCAA Coaches Legacy Award recipients #GoBarton

Former Barton Community College Head Coaches Ray Bechard and Mike Warren were recognized Tuesday as recipients of the Coaches Legacy Award presented by Nufabrx announced by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

This is the first time in the near 90-year history of the NJCAA that coaches have been recognized in such a fashion by the Association as nearly 200 coaches across 28 different sports were nominated by the member colleges at which they coached.

"Being able to recognize our coaches, past and present, is a wonderful thing for the NJCAA, our member institutions, the coaches, and their families," said Dr. Christopher Parker, NJCAA President and CEO.

All honorees were recognized at a special luncheon on Tuesday, June 17, in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Hilton Charlotte University Place Hotel which proceeded with the 2025 NJCAA Hall of Fame and Awards events later in the day.

The inaugural Legacy Award recognizes the all-time winningest coaches in NJCAA history, Bechard's 13-year volleyball career eclipsing 700-wins while Warren's career eclipsed the 1000-win qualification standard.

Both were previously inducted into the Barton Sports Hall of Fame, Bechard in 2002 while Warren was inducted in the 2020 class.

Ray Bechard
Bechard didn't start Barton's volleyball program, nor did he have the first very successful teams at the school, but what Coach Bechard did do was create an NJCAA volleyball giant coming out of Great Bend.

A former Cougar basketball player from 1976 to 1978, Bechard returned to Barton in 1985 taking the reigns of the volleyball program for 13 years (1985 to 1997) compiling a 716-60 record for a staggering .923 winning percentage with nearly half of those losses coming to some of the best teams in the nation at the NJCAA Tournament.

Bechard's teams won the Jayhawk West title every year and were crowned Region 6 Champions all but once. In the team's twelve NJCAA Tournament appearances, the Cougars never finished lower than 5th. A 1989 NJCAA runner-up featuring fellow 2002 Barton Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Michelle Hall Hulsmeyer, Bechard's Cougars additionally placed 3rd a trio of times, in 4th place six times, and in the 5th spot twice.

Bechard's recruitment and individual performances included 14 First Team NJCAA All-America recipients, 13 Academic All-America achievers, and 15 Distinguished Academic All-America earners.

Consisting of eight seasons with 55 or more wins, Bechard's squads owned winning streaks of 59, 58, and 57 matches, along with, three additional unbeaten stretches of 30-plus in a row.

After leaving Barton, Bechard became the Head Volleyball Coach at the University of Kansas, where he retired this past December following a 27-year career as the Jayhawks' winningest coach in its volleyball history.

Bechard took the Kansas program to new heights, becoming a five-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year leading the Jayhawks to thirteen NCAA National Tournament appearances and a .613 winning percentage (496-313).

A Grinnell, Kansas native, Bechard is also a member of the Kansas Volleyball Association Hall of Fame, the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and is a three-time AVCA Region Coach of the Year.

Mike Warren
Warren concluded his 30-year Cougar career in 2014 with a final mark of 903-628-1.

Averaging 30 wins per season including a then-school record 44 victories in 2002, Warren's Cougars won five Jayhawk Conference Western Division championships, two Western Sub-Regional championships, and earned four Western Division Coach of the Year honors.

Following a successful Kansas high school and collegiate playing career, Warren began his coaching career at Pratt Community College then Dodge City Community College capping a 35-year collegiate coaching record at 1001-740-1.

The Winfield, Kansas, native's reach extended beyond Barton baseball far and wide throughout the lives of over 900 student-athletes, coaches, and the industry at all levels including the KJCCC.

In 1986, Warren became the first President of the Jayhawk Conference Baseball Coaches Association with his first initiative being to unify the coaches and colleges in restructuring the conference schedule to keep student-athletes in class more often instead of missing due to game schedules.

Next was the development of a two-day annual all-star game to provide additional exposure for all Kansas community college sophomores in front of four-year schools and professional scouts. The Region 6 East/West All-Star Game was born and has taken place each fall since 1994 providing national exposure for sophomores in the Kansas junior college ranks.

In 1990, Warren helped and was instrumental in Barton getting a playing field on campus in the establishment of Lawson-Biggs Field.

Additionally, inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016, Warren continued around the game after Barton including as the head coach at Eisenhower High School in Goddard before retiring his 46-year career earlier this month.