WKCTC's Basketball Invitational March 2

Recognizing 50th Anniversary of 1969 PCC National Championship Team and Organ Donation Through Kam's Challenge

MEDIA ADVISORY: Paducah, KY (02/13/2019) — The West Kentucky Stars, the basketball club at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, will host its annual invitational March 2 in Haws Gymnasium. During the invitational, the college will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1969 PCC championship team and recognize the importance of organ donation through Kam's Challenge.

The first games of the invitational will be played at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. A consolation game will be played at 5 p.m., followed by the championship game at 7 p.m. The teams from WKCTC, Earle Clements Job Corps, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and the University of Campbellsville at Harrodsburg will compete.

Kam's Challenge will be played at 3 p.m. The game is in memory West Kentucky Stars basketball player and high school basketball star, Kam Chumbler who died tragically in 2015. Kam's Challenge, which began in 2016 to honor Kam Chumbler's selfless act of being an organ donor, is a special game of comradery. Stars' coach and Kam's father Mike Chumbler said many of his son's former teammates and opponents from across the region will play in Kam's Challenge to honor their friend.

Prior to Kam's Challenge at 2:45 p.m., recipients of Kam's organs will be recognized and will share their thoughts and thanks for the young man who saved their lives. A representative from the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) will also have a table setup throughout the invitational with information about the joining the organ donor registry.

During halftime of the 7 p.m. championship game, a special ceremony will be held to recognize the 50th anniversary of Paducah Community College (PCC) basketball team's 1969 National Championship victory. Several members of the championship team will attend the ceremony including Rick Ragland, one of the team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the tournament. Several family members of championship coach Sonny Haws will also attend. Haws is the namesake of the college's gym. PCC is one of the founding institutions of today's WKCTC.

All-day admission is $8 for adults and $4 for students and WKCTC staff and faculty. A 6% Kentucky sales tax is added to the admission price. Children 10 and under are admitted free. The first 100 people to Haws Gym for the March 2 invitational will receive a free WKCTC coozie.

The media is encouraged to attend.

See the link to a play-by-play program featuring Paducah Sun reporter Glenn Cochrum and PCC coach Sonny Haws. WKCTC's Paducah-2 Access Television produced the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8zZ8B7Q6kQ

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