Oregon Tech Hall of Fame Class Includes 2004 National Champions, Four Standouts
The Hustlin’ Owls’ first NAIA championship team and four decorated athletes from the 2000s will be honored Nov. 8 in Klamath Falls.
2026 Hall of Fame Class
2004 Oregon Tech Men’s Basketball Team
Oregon Tech’s first NAIA national championship team
Levell Hesia
Men’s basketball, 2003-07
Nikki O’Connell
Women’s basketball, 2003-05
Megan Jones
Volleyball, 2003-06
Michelle Sentman
Track and field and volleyball
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — The team that delivered Oregon Tech’s first NAIA national championship and four standout athletes from the 2000s have been selected for the university’s 2026 Athletic Hall of Fame class.
The 2004 men’s basketball team will be inducted alongside Levell Hesia, women’s basketball player Nikki O’Connell, volleyball player Megan Jones, and two-sport athlete Michelle Sentman.
The class will be honored during the Hall of Fame Brunch on Sunday, Nov. 8, at the Oregon Tech Campus Union. Tickets will go on sale at a later date.
The Howard Morris Oregon Tech Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 2021 and is named for the longtime coach, athletic director, and physical education department chair whose career at Oregon Tech spanned 30 years.
Nineteen individuals and four teams have been inducted since the Hall of Fame was established.
Cover Image: The 2004 Oregon Tech men’s basketball team celebrates after winning the NAIA Division II national championship, the first national title in school history. Photo courtesy of OIT Athletics.
The 2004 men’s basketball team brought Oregon Tech its first national championship after 57 years as an NAIA member.
The Hustlin’ Owls finished the season 30-9 and entered the NAIA Division II national tournament as the No. 16 seed after placing second in both the Cascade Conference regular season and conference tournament.
Oregon Tech opened the national tournament with a dramatic 71-69 victory over Dominican University of California. Tournament MVP Kevin Baker hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the closing moments.
The Owls then defeated No. 1 seed Jamestown, No. 2 seed Bellevue, No. 5 seed St. Ambrose, and No. 8 seed Cedarville on their way to the championship.
Oregon Tech became the lowest seed to win the title in the tournament’s 27-year history.
Hesia was a freshman on that championship team and went on to become one of the most decorated players in program history.
The Mazama High School graduate earned NAIA All-America recognition three times, including first-team honors in 2005 and second-team selections in 2006 and 2007. He also earned All-Cascade Conference honors three times.
Hesia averaged 15 points per game during his Oregon Tech career and scored 2,109 points, a school record that stood for 13 years. He remains one of only two players in program history to surpass 2,000 career points.
He also ranks among Oregon Tech’s top five in career free throws, field goals, 3-pointers, steals, and assists.
O’Connell helped elevate the Oregon Tech women’s basketball program during two record-setting seasons from 2003 to 2005.
The two-time Cascade Conference Player of the Year and two-time NAIA third-team All-American led the 2004-05 Lady Owls to the only conference regular-season championship in program history and their first appearance in the NAIA Division II national tournament.
O’Connell averaged a double-double for her Oregon Tech career, recording 16.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. She scored 1,006 points and collected 697 rebounds in two seasons.
Jones helped the Oregon Tech volleyball team earn 75 victories during her four seasons as the starting setter from 2003 through 2006.
The Lady Owls reached four consecutive Cascade Conference tournaments and advanced to the NAIA Region I Tournament in 2004 and 2005.
Jones earned three all-conference selections and two All-Region I awards. She remains the only player in program history to record at least 900 assists in four seasons and continues to hold the school career record with 4,178 assists.
She also ranks among the program’s career leaders in hitting percentage, service aces, blocks, and digs.
Sentman competed for four seasons in track and field and three seasons in volleyball.
She earned All-Cascade Conference honors 13 times in track and field, winning the 2005 high jump championship and three conference heptathlon titles. Sentman also earned NAIA All-America honors three times in the javelin and once in the heptathlon.
Her school-record high jump of 5 feet, 6 inches still stands, and she remains among Oregon Tech’s top five in the javelin and 100-meter hurdles.
In volleyball, Sentman recorded 938 kills and 785 digs. She earned all-conference and All-Region I honors in 2007 after finishing the season with 442 kills, the second-highest single-season total in program history.
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