The First Century Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide 109

Transcription

1 The First Century William Kastrinos (10) & Noble Arnold (19) / Northern Illinois Still Gym ( ) Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide 109

2 The All-Century Team Best of Northern Illinois Men s Basketball ( ) THE SUPER 36 No. Pos. Player (Votes) Years Lettered Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) 33 F Kenny Battle (29) Aurora, IL (West) King of the 360s / Youngest MAC, NIU player to amass 1,000 career points / First-round NBA draft selection 24 F-C Jim Bradley (29) East Chicago, IN (Roosevelt) The first Magic / Two triple-doubles and 46 pt.-rb. double-doubles in 49 games / Played on 1975 ABA champs 35 F-C T. J. Lux (29) Merrillville, IN King of the Double-Double / No. 1 in NIU career scoring and rebounding / Three-time Academic All-America 40 C Allen Rayhorn (29) Rock City, IL (Dakota) The Horn / Set 16 NIU records / Three-time All-MAC, All-MAC Tournament / MAC Tourney MVP ( ) 10 G Donald Whiteside (28) Chicago, IL (Leo) Three-time UPI Small America / Second NIU player with 1,000 points-300 assists / Played in CBA, ABA, NBA 34 F Matt Hicks (27) Aurora, IL (West) All-MAC / MAC Player of Year ( ) / Largest write-in vote (389,394) for national Pizza Hut All-Star Game 44 F Donnell Thomas (27) Chicago, IL (Robeson) D-Train / Nation s best 6-4 post-up man / First NIU player to lead team in rebounds for four consecutive years 13 G Larry Wyllie (27) Westmont, IL (D. Grove North) All-IIAC and loop scoring champ (25.9 ppg. in ) / Holds top two NIU single-game point efforts (52 & 48) 44 F Paul Dawkins (26) Saginaw, MI Doctor D / MAC Player of Year ( ) / No. 5 in NCAA scoring (26.7 ppg. as senior) / Drafted by Utah Jazz 50 F-C Tim Dillon (26) Franklin Grove, IL (F. Center) The Marshal / NIU s first Academic All-America, NCAA Postgraduate Scholar / All-MAC / loop scoring champion 40 F Larry Gentry (26) Clinton, IL Averaged pt.-rb. double-double each year / Four-time All-IIAC / Three-year NIU MVP / Held school scoring mark 44 F Jerry Zielinski (25) Hennepin, IL (Putnam County) The Huskie Rick Mount / Set Evans FH single-game scoring mark (46 points vs. SIU in ) / ABA draft pick 44 C Jim Smith (24) Des Plaines, IL (Maine West) NIU s first NBA (Los Angeles Lakers) & ABA (Miami Floridians) draft choice (1969) / Two-time Huskie MVP 12 G Billy Harris (24) Chicago, IL (Dunbar) The Kid / Top scoring guard in NIU history / Hit record 77 points in back-to-back games (35 & 42) / NBA draftee 10 G George Bork (23) Mt. Prospect, IL (Arlington) Two-sport captain, MVP, All-IIAC, All-America, and All-Century pick / Averaged 21.7, 23.2 ppg. as soph & junior 12 G Willie Hanson (23) Mendota, IL Two-time team MVP and scoring leader ( ) / Holds NIU game (19) and season (32) consecutive FT marks 32 G Rodney Davis (22) Aurora, IL (East) Made NIU All-Decade, All-Evans FH teams / Two-time team MVP / NBA free agent / WBL, CBA draft selection F Reino Nori (22) DeKalb, IL NIU s first NFL player / Two-sport All-Century pick / Won 17 letters in five sports / All-Little 19 cager, team captain 52 C Abe Booker (21) Chicago, IL (Wells) The Book / Musical (key)boardman with elbows / Set NIU single-game (32) and season (331) rebound records F Tuck Huntzicker (21) DeKalb, IL Two-time Northern Illinois captain / Called scoring ace (who shot) from any angle and thru gymnasium beams 21 F John Olson (21) Chicago, IL (Hyde Park) First NIU 1,000-point man / Twice All-IIAC / Set school game (46), season (417), and career (1,137) point marks 32 F Bill Terwilliger (21) DeKalb, IL One of NIU s finest athletes / National AAU decathlon champ (1942) / Regular on 15-1 Little 19 cage titlists (1941) 21 G-F Bobby Wood (21) Rockford, IL (Central) Sparkplug / Set shot artist / First NBA player / Two-time MVP / Set NIU game (29) and career (983) point marks F Charles Wix Garner (20) DeKalb, IL Shredded double teams / Led team in scoring two winters / First-Team All-Little 19 Conference / NIU cage captain G-C Leland Strombom (20) Sycamore, IL The master wheel in the NI attack and the keystone of the Prof defense / Captained football and basketball units G Wes Concidine (19) DeKalb, IL Two-sport captain / Called outstanding star on team and best all-around athlete produced by Northern Illinois G Jim McKinzie (17) DeKalb, IL Three-sport man with eight varsity letters / Topped team in scoring as junior / Team cage MVP and All-IIAC pick Rodney Davis Bill Terwilliger Bobby Wood Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide

3 The All-Century Team No. Pos. Player (Votes) Years Lettered Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) F John Red Pace (17) Woodstock, IL NFL referee & crew chief for 20 years / Team captain & MVP, All-Little 19, All-Teachers College Tourney pick 25 F-C Dick Williams (17) Kirkland, IL Tryouts with Chicago White Sox (1945) and NBA Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (1949) / Four-sport standout G Clarence Boots Cannon (16) Shabbona Grove, IL Ballhandling, passing whiz / Called all-star guard who could dribble thru entire opposing team / Team captain 25 G-F Chris Coleman (16) Buffalo Grove, IL (Stevenson) CBS-TV NCAA Player of Game (28 pts. vs. Texas Tech) / Team MVP, First-Team All-MCC, MCC Tourney MVP 34 G-F Brad Waller (16) Lombard, IL (Glenbard East) Pure shooter / Academic All-America / All-Decade, All-Chick Evans FH teams / Three-time All-MAC Academic F Benny Westlake (16) Elburn, IL Co-captained Little 19 kingpins ( ) / MVP at Illinois Teachers College Tourney / Four-time All-Little 19 F-G Roy Flip Allen (15) Mount Morris, IL Earned 13 varsity letters in four NIU sports / Nicknamed for radical one-hand jump shot / Senior Athletic Award 24 G Harry Henigan (15) Sycamore, IL Harry the Horse / Three-sport man / Two-sport All-Century selection / Free agent with NFL Chicago Cardinals 16 G Ollie Krahenbuhl (15) Rochelle, IL Won 11 letters in three sports / Two-sport All-Century pick / Co-captained Little 19 Conference champs ( ) HONORABLE MENTION (10 or more votes) Bob Price No. Pos. Player Years Lettered Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) G George Acker Dixon, IL Three-sport man / Captained IIAC grid champ (1951) / Coached six NCAA tennis champs at Kalamazoo College 14 G Jay Bryant Aurora, IL (West) The Connector / Set school career (367) and season (163) assist marks / All-Evans FH Team / Team captain G Chet Davis Aurora, IL Won 12 letters in three sports / Captained Little 19 cage runner-up ( ) / First-Team All-Little 19 gridder F Bob Price Brookfield, IL (Riverside-B.) Three-sport man with 11 letters / Served as captain in and on loop champs / All-Little 19 cager 45 F Hubert Cash Register Minneapolis, MN (North) Nickname of Century / Playing pro ball in France / Captain, Top 30 career scorer / Led Mid-Con in shot rejections G Leonard Skoglund DeKalb, IL Earned 11 letters in three sports / Made First-Team All-Little 19 as frosh / Defense sparked two league title teams 22 F Ed Ware Hillsboro, IL Owned coil spring legs / Team captain & MVP, All-IIAC, and loop MVP / Rated nationally in rebounds & assists OTHER PLAYERS RECEIVING VOTES (Alphabetically) Carl Armato, G ( ), Noble Arnold, C ( ), James Bogan, F ( ), Tim Bryant, F-G ( ), Jim Capers, G ( ), Elzie Cooper, G ( ), Barney Dudley, G ( ), Roger Dutton, G ( ), George Evans, G ( ), Dean Froelich, F ( ), Norm Goldman, C ( ), Ed Hall, G ( ), Antwon Harmon, F ( ), John Harris, C ( ), Leonard Hayes, G ( ), Mike Hidden, F-G ( ), Larry Hoover, C-F ( ), Cleveland Ivey, F ( ), Toimi Jarvi, G ( ), Victor Kays, F ( ), Joe Kieley, G ( ), Ron Lindfors, C ( ), Mike Lipnisky, G ( ), Nate Mason, G ( ), Ronald Minter, G ( ), W. L. Moore, F ( ), Jack Mustapha, G ( ), Bud Nangle, F ( ), Dave Naves, F ( ), Randy Norman, G ( ), Ray Peppler, C ( ), Babe Reisser, F ( ), Ray Rhone, G ( ), Jamal Robinson, F ( ), Hugh Rohrschneider, F ( ), Don Russell, G ( ), Jake Stap, G ( ), Shawn Thrower, F ( ), Randy Tucker, G ( ), Pete Valaika, F-G ( ), Andrew Wells, F ( ), Jerry Williams, G ( ), John Young, F ( ). THE COMMITTEE (29 Voters) NIU Administrators: Eddie Williams, Bob Brigham, Robert Collins, Mike Korcek, Bill Finucane. NIU Staff / Faculty: Keith Lowman, Walt Owens. NIU Alumni: Rick Cerrone, Lin Dailey, Tim Dillon, Jeff Farren, Robert Hester, Joe Koch, Glen Krupica, Bill Minnihan, Bud Nangle, Art Rohlman, Brad Waller. Media: Bill Baker, Huskie Radio Network, Chuck Fieldman, Pioneer Press, Ray Gibson, Chicago Tribune, Les Grobstein, WSCR Radio, Brad Hoey, NIU Media Services, Bill Jauss, Chicago Tribune, Dave Kaplan, WGN Radio, Jeff Leon, WRHL Radio, Steve Nemeth, DeKalb Daily Chronicle, Sid Simmons, Huskie Radio Network, Len Ziehm, Chicago Sun- Times. Dick Williams Jay Bryant Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide 111

4 The First Century The 100th Anniversary Season. The Northern Illinois University Men s Basketball Centennial. Celebrating the First Century...and the next. One hundred years of Cardinal and Black team and individual success stories. Vintage scorebooks with that last-second winning 2 scribbled onto the page with extra flair and passion. Yellowed newspaper clippings describing a Profs victory. The joys. The despair. The Boys of Winter. Over the first 100 years, whether the uniforms read DeKalb, NI, NISTC, DeKalb Teachers, Northern Teachers, NIU, Northern, or Northern Illinois, Huskie basketball warmed many a frigid DeKalb winter night. Where the 10-foot rim might have been the only constant since Dr. James Naismith nailed the original peach basket to the gym railing, The Game and the Huskie program evolved in the duration. In 1,842 games against intercollegiate competition since the season, 955 triumphs, and 59 campaigns of.500 ball or better, Northern Illinois has written a colorful and distinctive cage legacy. From the modest 19th century origins at the Normal gymnasium in the Altgeld Hall basement that would hold throngs of spectators to the much anticipated 10,000-seat, state-of-theart $35.8-million Convocation Center being constructed on the new far west campus. From playing the early in-school Elwood and Glidden society rivalry games in Altgeld to carrying the Ollie Krahenbuhl ( ) Huskie colors into the historic meccas of major-college basketball the Palestra, the Chicago Stadium, and Madison Square Garden. From playing in the Little 19 Conference to performing 34 years in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I ranks vs. competition from the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Big East, SEC, Conference-USA, and the WAC. From winning the Minor Colleges of Illinois Tournament in 1921 to earning NCAA tourney berths in 1958, 1982, 1991, and From team captain Victor Kays in 1900 to national Academic All- America of the Year and captain T. J. Lux in This is our proud Northern Illinois heritage. Yes, the endless stories. The earliest goal throwers such as Hall of Famer Charles Wix Garner who was described in The Norther yearbook as the...shadow, captain, and forward...the lightest and smallest man on the team, but the biggest point-getter engrained themselves into the local consciousness. In the late 1920s, DeKalb grade school children tried emulating Hall of Famer Tuck Huntzicker s uncanny set shots through the low Altgeld gymnasium support beams and into the basket. Tuck sure did. I saw it myself, said the late Huskie Hall of Fame football standout Tego Larsen who grew up in DeKalb. And he d do that in games. It was amazing. Five decades later, a 6-foot-10 sophomore named Jim Bradley garnered reams of national publicity before his first Northern Illinois game and would eventually lead the Huskies into the major-college Top 20. During the mid-1980s, a slamboyant Kenny Battle would be nicknamed The King of the 360s by CBS-TV s Brent Musburger in those dunk-a-rama Northern Illinois years. Garner, Huntzicker, Bradley, Battle, etc., would enter the pantheon of Huskie hardwood gods. The most heralded Northern Illinois players? The best? The standards increased in scope during The First Century. The earliest measure would be making All-Little 19 Conference or being honored on the United Press All-Illinois team. Later, the ultimate criterion would be the National Basketball Association. Over the years, the Huskies have produced 10 NBA draft choices and six free agents starting with set shot specialist Bobby Wood with the Sheboygan Redskins and rugged Dick Williams with the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in The most recent Northern Illinois NBA product? Quicksilver 5-foot- 10 guard Donald Whiteside, a free agent with the Toronto Raptors in and Atlanta Hawks in Ex-Huskie guard Jim Capers officiated in the NBA for many years. Different eras produced its own generation of all-stars. Prior to the elimination of the center jump after each basket in , the names Garner, Huntzicker, Clarence Boots Cannon, Wes Concidine, Leland Strombom, Jack Mustapha, John Red Pace, Benny Westlake, Leonard Kokie Skoglund, Elzie Cooper, John Young, and Reino Nori rank in the upper echelon. NIU went 15-3 and 15-2, winning back-to-back Little 19 championships in and teams regarded as the best in the school s first half century. Next came World War II and legends such as Williams, Wood, Ollie Krahenbuhl, Bob Price, Ed Hall, Bill Terwilliger, Harry Henigan, Ed Ware in the modern era. By the 1950s, the state teacher s college developed into a full-fledged university, bringing more change the first 100-point game and the school s initial 1,000-point career scorers in forwards John Olson (1,192 points in ) and Larry Gentry (1,376 in GEORGE CHICK EVANS BORN IN EL PASO, IL ( ) FIRST INTERCOLLE- GIATE GAME VS. ILLINOIS STATE (2-9-01) HUSKIES ALLAN NEWMAN ( ) NIU SCORES RECORD 88 PTS. VS. AURORA ( ) NIU GOES 12-4 & WINS MINOR COLLEGES OF ILLINOIS TOURNAMENT (3-5-21) NORTHERN ILLINOIS WINS RECORD 12 GAMES IN A ROW, FINISHES 17-1, AND PLAYS IN NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN KANSAS CITY, MO ( ) Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide

5 The First Century 60). As the institution s enrollment neared the 20,000 mark, Northern Illinois entered the major-college ranks in behind the Cardinal and Black s first NBA draft pick in 6- foot-7 center Jim Smith. Bradley, cornerman Jerry Z Zielinski, and sharpshooter Billy The Kid Harris led Hall of Fame coach Tom Jorgensen s fabled 21-4 Huskie quintet that defeated No. 5-ranked Indiana and averaged a school-record 95.2 points per game in Northern Illinois joined the Mid-American Conference in 1973 and began MAC play in Under the direction of Hall of Fame coach John McDougal, the Huskies began a 10-year run of all-stars and NBA draft choices such as Matt Hicks, Paul Dawkins, Allen Rayhorn, Tim Dillon, and Battle, and earned the program s first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in Northern Illinois would return to the Big Dance during a 25-6 campaign under Jim Molinari in and for Brian Hammel en route to a campaign in Lux capped the Huskie First Century by becoming the school s No. 1 career scorer (1,996 points) and rebounder (1,110). The Pioneer Era ( ) Coach Milo Oakland spearheaded Northern Illinois first big winning season in His Huskies became the school s first twin-digit winner with a 12-4 won-lost record, beat in-state rivals Bradley and Illinois State, and then swept past five opponents Illinois College, Mt. Morris, Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois, and Eureka to win the school s first title at the Minor Colleges of Illinois Tournament in Decatur. They spoke for themselves, wrote The Norther yearbook. What has it meant to you to belong to a school that boasts the best team in Illinois, champions of the minor colleges? All-star Garner captained the group that averaged 36.1 ppg. on offense and yielded 21.6 ppg. on defense. Swingman Allan Newman and guard Clarence Boots Cannon made the same allstar unit while guard Crawford King held his man to one basket in the championship game at Decatur. There was also talk that Northern Illinois would have been more than competitive against the champ of the Major Tournament. First to achieve national fame was the Northern Illinois State Teachers College outfit that fashioned a 17-1 regular-season record. Now these Profs really taught their foes a few lessons. The Roland Cowell-coached team outscored the opposition, , and concluded the regular season with a schoolrecord 12 consecutive victories (one vs. the Chicago YMCA). Northern Illinois gained a berth in the National Basketball Championships in Kansas City, MO. The post-season bid was accepted when the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce contributed $400 and the students managed another $100 to defray expenses. The locals won their first two games before dropping a decision to St. Joseph (MO) Northern Illinois Team: Front Row (from left): Babe Jahns, Smoke Larson, Dave Williams, Jim Maushauk, Edward Bower, Edward Hansen. Back Row (from left): Manager Walter Martins, Paul Ritzman, Tuck Huntzicker, Chuck Roundy, Wes Concidine, Eddie White, Pete Turner, Patrick Rosier, Mark Biehl, Martin Hansen which improved the team won-lost mark to Huntzicker and Concidine starred on this contingent. In the only NISTC setback at Altgeld against Armour Institute the enemy defense was so tenacious...that guard Tuck Huntzicker had to shoot through the beams to boost N.I. s side of the score, The Norther reported. Athletics patriarch George Chick Evans arrived at NISTC in 1929 and put his Huskies on the map with consecutive Little 19 titles in and and won 30 of 35 games in the duration. The latter quintet appeared in a precursor to the NCAA Tournament, playing Kansas and Pittsburgh in 20-minute postseason exhibitions that illustrated various styles of play and proposed rule changes at the National Association of Basketball Coaches Convention in Atlanta. The Profs received favorable comments for their outstanding play from coaches across the country. Northern Illinois captured its last seven league games and topped Augustana, 40-25, in its Little 19 finale to clinch the crown. Cooper s offensive heroics helped beat Augie. Skoglund won First-Team All-Little 19 honors, mostly for his defense and dependability not to mention a radical one-hand push shot. Westlake, a Second-Team All-Little 19 choice, finished as NISTC s leading scorer and his speed paid dividends in Evans motion or squirrelcage offense. The 5-foot-6 Nori, better known for his Prof gridiron exploits, proved to be an aggressive sparkplug in spite of his small stature, the 1934 Norther said. Mustapha was the fifth individual NIU Hall of Fame inductee from that storied quintet. No wonder that group became the first team enshrined into the NIU Athletics Hall in FIRST 100-PT. GAME (NIU 103, UW-WHITEWATER 66) (1-6-53) LITTLE 19 CHAMPS ( ) LITTLE 19 CHAMPS ( ) JIM BRADLEY BORN IN EAST CHICAGO, IN ( ) LITTLE 19 CHAMPS ( ) REINO NORI ( ) CENTER JUMP ELIMINATED ( ) NOBLE ARNOLD ( ) DICK WILLIAMS, BOBBY WOOD FIRST NBA FREE AGENTS ( ) Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide 113

6 The First Century The College Division Era ( ) Hall of Fame coach Ralph McKinzie better known as Mac took the Huskies to Little 19 titles in his first (15-3 in ) and fifth (15-1 in ) seasons in DeKalb. Maybe the first sign of success for the Northern Illinois team was the exhibition victory over the Alumni. The old-timers ran out of gas late in the game against the quickness of guards Ollie Krahenbuhl, Ed Hall, and Joe Kieley, plus the boardwork of 6-foot-7 center Ray Peppler. Bob Price, the NI team captain with Krahenbuhl, started at forward with the athletic Bill Terwilliger on McKinzie s fast-breaking quintet that filled Still Gym and set the school s attendance records. It helped coach Mac that the ballclub had experience with five seniors Kieley, Krahenbuhl, Price, Terwilliger, and Ed Bauer. To share the Little 19 trophy, Northern Illinois faced a must-win situation in its last three league games and came through in style by beating arch-rival Southern Illinois, 51-45, on February 22; Eastern Illinois, 41-29, on February 26; and Western Illinois, 62-46, on March 1. As conference cochampions with Illinois State, the Huskies placed Hall and Price on the First-Team All- Little 19 squad and Peppler made Honorable Mention. In , Mac struck again with an eager second-string nicknamed the Hungry Five who whetted their appetite that winter as Northern Illinois vanquished the opposition by margins of 26, 41, 17, 23, 29, and 50 points. Will anyone forget how the boys fought on hardwood, The Norther observed, and how the eager Hungry Five carried on where the first team stopped? Forward Noble Arnold captained the Huskies which began the season with 10 straight wins. Northern Illinois Little 19 Champs: Front Row (from left): Ollie Krahenbuhl, Toimi Jarvi, Bob Price, Bill Terwilliger, Ray Peppler, Ed Bauer, Hoot Gibson, Ed Hall, Joe Kieley. Back Row (from left): Manager Al Ramsa, Gabriel Orvino, Don Ebaugh, Bill Behm, Bud Nangle, Merv Fink, Ed Haase, Pete Johnson, Coach Ralph McKenzie. Check out those spiffy NI socks. The 1950s brought the post-world War II prosperity, the school s first 100-point outing (103 vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater on January 6, 1953), Hall of Fame mega-scorers such as Olson, Gentry, and Larry Wyllie, and Northern Illinois initial NCAA tourney appearance. Based on strong performances against nationallyranked (No. 1) Wheaton College and (No. 3) Western Illinois, coach William Healey s 9-11 Huskies were offered an atlarge bid to the 32-school NCAA College Division Tournament. The field included many programs that would eventually be elevated to the major-college ranks including Grambling, Wagner, Buffalo, Evansville, Austin Peay, Akron, Fresno State, Southwest Missouri State, Arkansas State, and Centenary. NIU was assigned to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at Aurora East High School with St. Norbert s (WI) College, Hope (MI) College, and Wheaton. Wyllie, a 6-foot-1 shooting guard who averaged 25.9 NIU JOINS NCAA DIVISION I RANKS ( ) ppg. that season and bombed Eastern Michigan for a school-record 52 points and 23 field goals on February 15, 1958, added to NIU lore with 48 points in the NCAA opener vs. Hope on March 7, The Huskies would defeat St. Norbert s, 76-70, for their first triumph at the NCAA level in the third-place game. Next on the Northern Illinois cage genealogy tree would come shooting machines George Bork and Willie Hanson in the 1960s, plus schedules that reflected the impending Division I affiliation. Better known for his exploits at quarterback on Glidden Field, Bork who turned down a football scholarship at Michigan because he wanted to play both sports in college would garner team MVP, All-IIAC, All-America (NAIA Honorable Mention in hoops), and First- Team All-Century accolades in both football and basketball. The same right wrist that threw for 6,782 yards in football, flicked those jump shots for 1,114 career points in three basketball seasons. Hanson ranks among the school s all-time great free throw shooters canning 19 in a row vs. Central Michigan and 32 straight during The Major College Era (1967-Present) In the late 1960s, Jorgensen did an Earthbound Neal Armstrong and took the program on a great leap for Huskiekind. By , its fifth major-college season, Northern Illinois cracked the Associated Press Top 20. During his tenure, Jorgy scheduled coast-to-coast, taking advantage of his Big Ten connections by lining up Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue, plus four appearances in the Chicago Stadium college doubleheaders and one in Madison Square Garden. By any standard, Jorgensen and Company had arrived. On December 1, 1970, NIU 85, #5 INDIANA 71 (1-4-72) NIU S FIRST NCAA APPEARANCE (3-7/8-58) LARRY WYLLIE SCORES 52 PTS. VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN ( ) NIU S FIRST MEETING VS. MAC (TOLEDO) ( ) COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER GEORGE BORK MAKES HONORABLE MENTION ALL- AMERICA ( ) JIM SMITH FIRST NIU NBA, ABA DRAFT PICK (1969) NIU S FIRST VICTORY VS. BIG TEN NIU 76, MICH. ST. 75 ( ) BILLY THE KID HARRIS ( ) NIU CRACKS AP TOP 20 FOR FIRST TIME AT #20 ( ) JIM BRADLEY RECORDS NIU S FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE VS. WICHITA STATE ( ) Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide

7 The First Century Northern Illinois recorded its first victory vs. the Big Ten Conference by topping Michigan State, On January 4, 1972, the Huskies upset No. 5-ranked Indiana, 85-71, in the program s benchmark game. On January 29, 1972, NIU played well in an setback to South Carolina in the Stadium. While those doubleheaders were hosted by Loyola, the Huskies became the hometown favorites against the Gamecocks as 18,643 fans chanted NIU, NIU... It was Northern Illinois nirvana. There was talk of a new arena. Evans Field House was a difficult ticket after 13-11, 13-12, 13-10, 21-4, and 17-8 seasons. Fate took a 180-degree turn when 6-10 All- America frontcourt star Bradley was suspended nine games by the NCAA for participating in an unsanctioned youth tournament in Gary, IN, and then was declared academically ineligible by the university. By the end of what would have been a banner senior year, Bradley was playing with the ABA Kentucky Colonels and the Huskies were struggling to a 8-17 record in Enter McDougal, a highly successful prep coach in his first Division I job in With basically the same group of players, Johnny Mac s disciplined style transformed a moribund 5-21 team into Basketball Weekly s Most Improved Team in the nation. Picked dead last in the preseason Mid-Am poll, Northern Illinois held the league lead as late as February 22, MAC Player of the Year Matt Hicks carried the Huskies on his shoulders, won the league scoring and rebounding titles, repeated as All-MAC, and made Mid-Am Player of the Week three times in eight weeks. In his Evans debut, McDougal s Northern Illinois team clobbered Wisconsin, The soft-spoken 52-year-old mentor could have run for mayor of DeKalb, but had to settle for MAC Coach of the Year. Best of all, the Huskies were competitive and the building was packed averaging 5,069 spectators for 12 home dates in a 6,076-seat facility. In , Northern Illinois shared the regularseason MAC title with four other teams and reached the finals of the Mid-Am Post-Season Tournament. The next winter, McDougal s quintet struggled during the regular season, but everything clicked in the MAC Post-Season Tournament. Led by 6-foot-9 Allen Rayhorn and three other NBA draft picks, the Huskies captured three games and beat Ball State in the title match-up, 79-75, in overtime. Hello, automatic bid. Hello, NCAA. Hello Reunion Arena. Northern Illinois did Dallas and played higher seeded Kansas State nose-to-nose before falling, McDougal s last hurrah came with the Magnificent Seven recruiting class that featured Battle and guard Rodney Davis and a record in The Huskies returned to championship form The Great Matt Hicks in under the defensive-minded Molinari. Hard-nosed Northern Illinois won a school-record 25 times in 31 outings, put together an 11-game winning streak and another eight-game string, captured the Mid- Continent Conference regular-season title, and ranked all over the NCAA defensive statistics that winter (No. 2 nationally in team scoring defense, No. 2 in field goal percentage defense, and No. 5 in team rebound margin). Despite losing to coach Dick Bennett s Wisconsin-Green Bay team three times, the Huskies earned an at-large NCAA berth thanks to a triumph vs. DePaul in another Evans Field House classic and a RPI-building effort in an setback at Nebraska. NIU would lose to St. John s of the Big East, 75-68, as seniors Donnell Thomas and Donald Whiteside kept things competitive. Five years later, Northern Illinois would return to the NCAA with some post-season deja vu. Similar to 1982, coach Hammel s club caught fire in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament. After a close call against Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a triumph, the Huskies beat neighborhood rival Illinois-Chicago, 95-60, in the semifinals and smoked Detroit, 84-63, In the finals. It was on to Richmond, VA, and the NCAA East Regional. Again, underdog and unranked Northern Illinois did well against 28-1 Texas Tech before falling, 74-73, and thoroughly entertaining the 6.6 million households on CBS-TV. Blue-clad North Carolina fans, waiting for the Tar Heel-New Orleans game in the Richmond Coliseum, picked up the enthusiastic NIU, NIU... chants. It was one of those unforgettable Huskie moments in The First Century. One of hundreds. With the new Convocation Center, The Second Century will be a blast thanks to the next generation of Victor Kays and T. J. Lux types. The Boys of Winter warming another winter night. MAC TITLE ( ) MID-CON TITLE ( ) NIU S FIRST MAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR MATT HICKS & FIRST MAC COACH OF THE YEAR JOHN McDOUGAL ( ) PAUL DAWKINS NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR ( ) FIRST NCAA DIVISION I TOURNEY (1982) ALLEN RAYHORN ( ) KENNY BATTLE LEADS ALL FRESHMEN IN SCORING (20.1 PPG) ( ) NIU GOES 25-6 AND EARNS AT-LARGE NCAA BID ( ) DONNELL THOMAS ( ) NIU FINISHES 20-10, WINS MCC TOURNEY AND MAKES NCAA ( ) T.J. LUX NAMED NATIONAL ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA OF THE YEAR ( ) CONVOCATION CENTER OPENS (FALL, 2002) Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide 115

8 Players Of The Century 24 Jim Bradley There was never any argument about Jim Bradley s basketball talent. The 6-foot-10, 221- pounder was The Franchise in two magical seasons when Northern Illinois won 38 of 50 games and basked in the national limelight. One of four unanimous selections on the NIU All-Century Team, that famous No. 24 is also the Player of the Century. He s a complete basketball player, said Huskie coach Tom Jorgensen in He does for us what Bill Walton does for UCLA. In retrospect, Jim Bradley did a lot more considering the history of the two programs. Any player comparisons at Northern Illinois must start with Bradley. The cornerstone of Jorgy s 21-4 Hall of Fame quintet in , Bradley garnered All-America honors and helped the Huskies smash 52 school records that winter. The hot topic on campus was not Vietnam, The Establishment, or Richard Nixon. It was Huskie basketball. Obviously, Bradley could do the typical big man things score and rebound. Peruse the record section. What people did not realize is that No. 24 was one of the college game s first big guards. Jim Bradley could do it all, said Northern Illinois sports information director emeritus Bud Nangle whose connection to the program dates back to Hit 40-footers, dribble behind his back or through his legs, handle the ball against the press, lead the break, and pass better than someone a foot shorter. Recruited by over 300 schools, Bradley was a Blue Chipper particularly after leading East Chicago (IN) Roosevelt to a 28-0 season and the 1970 Indiana High School Association championship in The late, legendary Tony Hinkle, who had witnessed every Indiana state tournament since 1913, put Bradley on his 10-man state Dream Team with John Wooden, Oscar Robertson, and George McGinnis. As a prep senior, Bradley not only led the Roughriders in scoring and rebounding, but assists as well. Due to NCAA sanctions and academic problems in , Bradley bypassed his senior year, went in the special ABA undergraduate draft, and found himself playing with Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, and Louis Dampier on the Kentucky Colonels. The next year, Kentucky won the ABA championship. I think Jim Bradley was as talented a player as I ever saw, said Issel. I mean, talent-wise, I would put him in the class of the Julius Ervings and David Thompsons of this world. Said Gilmore in 1982: He was a super, super tale n t e d player. A d d e d McGinnis in 1974: On a given night, Bradley can be better than me. He can be better than J u l i u s Erving. Potential needs to be realized. Bradley s lack of personal discipline sent him on an ody s s e y through the ABA, CBA, Jim Bradley France, and back to the NBA Portland Trailblazers. On February 20, 1982, his dead body was found in an alley in Portland. The case is still unsolved. Two years earlier, one of Bradley s ex-northern Illinois teammates, Billy The Kid Harris, was torching the opposition in the Chicago Summer League and eliciting comparisons from the crowd. There were a couple of kids seated behind us, recalled Huskie Sports Information Director Mike Korcek, and I heard one of them say, Billy s cool, but he s not the best. Jim Bradley was the best. He was the first Magic. Yes, No. 24 was. 40 Allen Rayhorn Since the inception of the Mid-American Conference in 1946, few can match Northern Illinois postman Allen Rayhorn, his league credentials, or his work ethic. Wally Szczerbiak. Howard Komives. Hal Greer. Nate Thurmond. Bonzi Wells. Dan Majarle. Grant Long. Wayne Embry. Steve Mix. Gary Trent. Ron Harper. Al Bianchi. Name them. Allen didn t come in here with any great fanfare, said Huskie coach John McDougal, but he established himself as one of the premier players in the history of Northern and the MAC. The league s initial Freshman of the Year, one of only 12 Mid-Am 1,000-point-1,000- rebound career performers, three-time First-Team All-MAC, thrice All-MAC Tournament, and MAC Post-Season Tournament MVP in 1982 when No. 40 led Northern Illinois to its first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance. Three-time team Most Valuable Player and the school s first soph MVP since Jim Bradley. At one time, Horn ranked as the No. 1 career scorer in the MAC and for the Huskies with his 1,874 points. He was voted the school s Player of the Decade (1980s). At 6-foot-9 and 202 pounds, Rayhorn ruled the paint. His signature shot was an unblockable, one-hand jumper. By his sophomore year, double and triple teams were standard. Rayhorn s career-high (37 points vs. Toledo in ) came against a rare man-to-man defense. He blocked a school-record 199 shots, dunked on DePaul All-America Mark Aguirre, and graduated with 16 NIU records. I don t know that Rayhorn is stoppable, said Bowling Green State coach John Weinert. Added Kansas State forward Les Craft after the NCAA game: He (Rayhorn) never lets up. There s nobody in the Big Eight that plays that hard. Praised Northwestern coach Rich Falk: Nobody works harder than Rayhorn. Named to the Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America squad as a senior, Rayhorn was drafted in the seventh round by the NBA Seattle Supersonics and lasted until the final cut. Breaking into a frontcourt that featured all-stars such as Jack Sikma and Lonnie Shelton was tough. Horn spent a year in the CBA before going back to his family farm in Rock City. The best testimony to his blue collar attitude? Probably no Northern Illinois player drew more fouls considering his school-record 568 free throws and 730 attempts. For someone who carried 16.1 ppg. and 9.4 rbpg. numbers for his 115-game collegiate career, No. 40 rarely forced shots and had an economy to his game (averaging only 10.1 shots pg.). Which was always the Rayhorn bottom line: Low key, but high profile. Allen Rayhorn Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide

9 Players Of The Century From his major-college debut and game-high 22 points vs. nationallyranked DePaul on WGN- TV November 24, 1984, Northern Illinois slamboyant forward Kenny Battle redefined high profile. News spread instantly in the mid-1980s cable TV generation. Battle cries spread like wildfire. He s (Battle) a dunking machine Mr. Excitement, screamed ESPN s Dick Vitale. What an athlete, said Marquette coach Rick Majerus. I mean he s the best athlete I ve seen since Darrell Griffth. That Battle is as good a freshman as I ve seen. Joey Meyer will tell you the same thing. Added DePaul s Joey Meyer: To my way of thinking, he s the best freshman I ve Kenny Battle seen this year. Offered Northwestern s Rich Falk: Battle s an awesome freshman. He does things you can t coach. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Battle would eventually lead all NCAA freshmen in scoring with a 20.1 ppg. average, set the school and Mid- American Conference freshman single-season point record (544), make MAC Frosh of the Year, put his Huskie No. 33 jersey in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, and find himself on at least 11 All-America teams that winter. The dunk-a-mania fun continued in as Evans Field House drew a record 65,237 fans who now had their own Doctor J or Michael Jordan wearing No. 33. Battle became the youngest player in NIU and 33 Kenny Battle MAC history to reach 1,000 career points (his 50th game as a soph) and earned the King of the 360s tag from Brent Musburger upon winning the Best Dunker in the Country award from CBS. Game or practice, when he puts on that uniform, Kenny Battle comes to play, said Northern Illinois boss John McDougal in I don t know of anyone who outworks him. I ll tell you this. If he wants to go to the basket, I don t know of too many people who could stop him. A one-man Phi Slamma Jamma with an NIU-record 93 stuffs in 54 games, Battle executed four 360-degree whirling-dervish stuffs in his Huskie days. His dunk duels with Ron Harper of Miami (OH) were classics. After transferring to Illinois, Battle starred for the Flyin Illini Final Four club in and would be a first-round NBA draft pick. As a rookie, he competed in the Slam- Dunk Contest against Dominique Wilkins, Scottie Pippen, Rex Chapman, Kenny Smith, Shawn Kemp, and Kenny Walker. No. 33. The stuff of Huskie legend. In retrospect, where do you start examining T. J. Lux s impact on Northern Illinois University men s basketball? After all, No. 35 did major surgery on the Huskie Record Book. 35 T.J. Lux No. 1 in career scoring and No. 1 in career rebounding. If Lux had spent his entire career in the Mid-American Conference, his 1,996 career points and 1,110 career rebounds would have placed him into an elite group that featured Ron Harper, Gary Trent, Allen Rayhorn, Nate Thurmond, Wayne Embry, etc. On that 94-foot by 50-foot stage, that s elite company. By any perspective, Lux upped the ante. No one in the 100-year basketball history of his alma mater had (1) scored at least 400 points in four different seasons, (2) made first-team allconference four times or (3) produced 59 career point-rebound double doubles. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound center-forward joined the all-time Huskie legends Rayhorn, Jim Bradley, Kenny Battle, Paul The Doctor Dawkins, Tim The Marshal Dillon, Matt Hicks, Donnell D-Train Thomas, Jerry Zielinski, Billy The Kid Harris, et PLAYER OF THE CENTURY VOTING 1 Jim Bradley (16 Votes); 2 Allen Rayhorn (4); 3 (tie) Kenny Battle (2), T. J. Lux (2) ; 5 (tie) Paul Dawkins (1), Matt Hicks (1), Donnell Thomas (1). al. Since 1946, only three people have won three Northern Illinois team MVP awards Hall of Famers Rayhorn ( ), Larry Gentry ( ), and now Lux. More suited for forward than the post, Lux played center in college, mostly out of necessity. A deft big man with a soft shooting touch (Lux beat Western Michigan, 55-52, with a 36- footer at the buzzer as a sophomore), he learned the nuances of major-college post play. Utilizing the drop step, reverse pivot, and the spin move, the three-time Northern Illinois team captain could deliver a variety of shots inside. His blue collar attitude, a high IQ, and long wingspan didn t hurt either. Rebounding? Lux had that nose for the ball and old-fashioned work ethic. So what really separated Lux from his collegiate peers then? Academics. His double double carried into the classroom. During his final Northern Illinois campaign, Lux T.J. Lux carried a 3.85 cumulative gpa on a 4.00 scale as a graduate student in institutional curriculum and supervision. And the academic honors followed. The prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. The Playboy Anson Mount Scholar-Athlete Award. The CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year in men s basketball. First-Team Academic All- America. An incredible Academic All-America three-peat an accomplishment done only 42 times in men s basketball since The distinguished three-time Academic All-America fraternity includes Bill Walton and Jamaal Wilkes of UCLA, Mike Gminski of Duke, Tom McMillen of Maryland, Ronnie Perry of Holy Cross, Rick Yunkus of George Tech, Dennis Awtrey of Santa Clara. Pretty exclusive company, No Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide 117

10 Players Of The Century 44 Paul Dawkins That handmade sign in jam-packed Evans Field House student section read: Score one for me, Doctor D. Usually it was more like 30. Eight times his senior year, The Doctor broke the 30-point barrier en route to the Mid-American Conference scoring title and finishing No. 5 nationally at 26.7 ppg. That s the way that Northern Illinois forward Paul The Doctor Dawkins operated in the late 1970s. Unbeatable off his sweet spot on the baseline. Deadly off the dribble and the drive. At 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, Dawkins was equally tough inside or outside. The combination was difficult to defend. Paul Dawkins Thanks to that rapid-fire southpaw stroke from 18-to-23 feet, No. 44 would make First-Team All-MAC, win Mid- Am Player of the Year in and get drafted by the Utah Jazz. Without a doubt, he is the smoothest operator I ve ever been associated with, John McDougal said. Before Karl Malone came along, Dawkins held the Jazz scoring record for a half (30 points vs. Portland in ). After a year and a half in Utah, Dr. D played in Alaska and Turkey ( ). The Doctor finished his Huskie career with seven school records. His 47-point house call at Western Michigan on Feb. 28, 1979, remains the best single-game Northern Illinois individual point production during its Division I tenure. In 1998, Dawkins topped all scorers with 22 points in the MAC Legends Game at Toledo. What else did you expect from Dr. D? 34 Matt Hicks The Great Matt Hicks might have been listed at only 6-foot-4, but the Northern Illinois Hall of Fame forward was a giant in the mid-1970s. In , No. 34 led coach John McDougal s Huskies on a memorable Mid-American Conference title run. Hicks became the first player in the history of the MAC to repeat as league scoring and rebounding kingpin (25.0 ppg. and 12.8 rbpg. in and 25.3 ppg. and 13.0 rbpg. in ). Revered for his assortment of spectacular dunks, Hicks was canonized by the rabid NIU students as St. Matthew. The NCAA s legalization of the dunk and his final season coincided in Every time Matt touches the ball, people stand up, said John McDougal. If he s not the best around and potentially, Matt is an All-America he s the most exciting. His hardwood skills and popularity attracted the largest write-in vote total (389,394) in the history of the national Pizza Hut All-Star Game in Las Vegas where Hicks wound up second b e h i n d U C L A s Marques Johnson in the slam-dunk contest. If ever a basketball shot was made for man and man was made for the shot, wrote Bob Pille of the Chicago Sun- Times, it is the combination of the dunk and Matt Hicks. The MAC Player of the Year executed two unforgettable stuffs vs. Wisconsin the first on a baseline drive over three defenders and the second the f a m o u s spread-eagle Matt Hicks shot a decade before that MJ fellow. Drafted by the NBA San Antonio Spurs, Hicks played eight years in Europe. Described as a mini-charles Barkley and the best 6-foot-4 post-up player in America, Northern Illinois forward Donnell D-Train Thomas always delivered from making Donnell Thomas Frosh All- America to leading his team to the NCAA Tournament as a senior. The first Huskie player to lead the team in boardwork for four seasons, the 6-4, 218-pound Thomas took on anybody in the paint. The bigger, the better. Against a Nebraska frontline that measured 7-2, 6-9, and 6-7, The Train ripped down 15 rebounds. In a neighborhood skirmish vs. DePaul that went 6-10, 6-9, and 6-7 upfront, No. 44 produced 20 points and 17 boards. You can compare him to Charles Barkley, said Northern Iowa center Jason Reese. (Thomas) plays twice as big as he is. Added Northern Illinois coach Jim Molinari: I ll take him 44 Donnell Thomas at 6-4 over anybody 6-8. No one fights harder than Donnell. He s a warrior. A first-round pick of the WBL Youngstown Pride, D-Train finished with 1,853 career points and 984 rebounds at Northern Illinois. Named the Chevrolet Player of the Game with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds vs. 20th-ranked St. John s in the NCAA Tournament, Thomas captained the winningest Huskie quintet in history (25-6 in ). Where did that nickname come from, No. 44? My grammar school coach gave me that nickname, Thomas said. He said once I got moving on the court, I moved like a train. You know nobody wants to step in front of a train Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide

11 One Shining Moment BUZZER BEATERS: While the official playby-play listed the winning basket as a 25-footer, Northern Illinois senior forward Aubrey Hawkins hit this biggie closer to midcourt with 0:00 left vs. Augustana (SD) for an Huskie triumph on December 4, Longest shot of NIU Hall of Fame center Allen Rayhorn s career? A 21-footer along the sideline at Central Michigan as time expired in regulation to tie the game at 66-all. Northern Illinois would win in overtime, 79-75, on January 14, Freshman guard Leonard Hayes wrapped up one-fifth of the Mid-American Conference regular-season championship with a 15-foot jumper on the right baseline at the 0:01 mark for a Huskie success at Western Michigan on February 28, NIU senior guard Rodney Davis turned an L to a W with a 23-foot three-pointer with 0:01 on the clock in an triumph at Drake on January 2, Senior guard Donald Whiteside s running three-pointer at the horn deadlocked the game after 40 minutes, 57-all, en route to a victory vs. Northern Iowa on March 4, 1991, and pushed Northern Illinois into the title game of the Mid-Continent Conference Post-season Tournament...Soph frontcourt man T. J. Lux canned a career-long 36-footer off an in-bounds play as time expired for a win vs. Western Michigan on December 2, Leonard Hayes HOTTEST SHOOTER: Three days after winning the Western Michigan game at the buzzer, Northern Illinois frosh guard Leonard Hayes set the school field-goal percentage record with a red-hot 10-for-10 performance and led the Huskies to a triumph at Bowling Green State in the first-round of the Mid-American Conference Post-season Tournament on March 3, According to the official play-by-play, Hayes was not shooting gimme lay-ups. The distances on his 10 baskets vs. BGSU (20, 20, 15, 15, 15, 15, 25, 20, 10, and 20 feet). I should send a bill to John McDougal for new nets, said BeeGee coach John Weinert. He (Hayes) wore them out. THE FIVE BEST FROSH YEARS: No. 1: Center Chuck Schramm (15.1 ppg., 14.8 rbpg., First-Team All-IIAC in ). No. 2: Center Allen Rayhorn (9.9 ppg., 8.1 rbpg., Frosh All-America, MAC Frosh of the Year in ). No. 3: Forward Kenny Battle (20.1 ppg., 6.1 rpg., 45 dunks, 11 Frosh All-America teams, MAC Frosh of the Year, Second-Team All-MAC in ). No. 4: Forward Donnell Thomas (11.5 ppg., 8.5 rbpg., Frosh All-America, No. 3 frosh rebounder in NCAA). No. 5: Centerforward T. J. Lux (15.2 ppg., 8.7 rbpg., four Frosh All-America teams, Midwestern Collegiate Conference Newcomer of the Year, First-Team All-MCC, team co-mvp in ). H-O-R-S-E LATITUDES: Senior center Mike Grabner hit only one three-pointer during his four-year Northern Illinois career. But what a Mission Impossible trey! The 6-foot-9, 222- pounder saved an errant pass at midcourt, made an 180-degree mid-air turn, and fired up a nosweat 46-foot bank shot vs. Western Michigan at Chick Evans Field House on December 23, MOST UNSELFISH PLAY: Late in the season finale, Northern Illinois forward Kenny Battle stood one point from the third-highest freshman scoring total in state Division I history. Earlier in the Eastern Michigan game, No. 33 made a steal and charged in for a 360-degree two-hand dunk. The Evans Field House faithful wanted another 360. Sure enough, Battle stole another pass and headed to the rim. Except this time, the King of the 360s spotted senior NIU Brad Waller who was making his final Huskie appearance filling the lane on the break. Waller got the ball and a resounding dunk of his own in a win on March 2, What a tremendous pass Kenny made, Waller said. I ll never forget that play as long as I live. THE FIVE MOST PSYCHEDELIC DUNKS: No. 1: With 4:31 left in the game, Wisconsin pulled within and Northern Illinois looked shaky in coach John McDougal s Evans debut on December 16, Timeout. Seconds later, senior forward Matt Hicks dribbled down the baseline and into traffic for a resounding onehand stuff over three taller Badgers. NIU went on a 16-2 spree and won, The fans stood the rest of the game. Unbelievable, Hicks said. No. 2: Seen across America on superstation WGN-TV, Northern Illinois 6-5 frosh forward Terry Green raised the decibel count in Evans with a pulse-pounding, arm-over-the-rim one-hand stuff tip-in that sent the game into overtime vs.depaul on December 12, No. 3: Huskie frosh guard Keith Gray listed at 6-2 executed the Stairway to Heaven dunk on a fastbreak vs. Western Michigan s 6-8 pivot Mike Seberger on February 10, Keith just kept going up and up and up, one observer said. No. 4: NIU frosh Kenny Battle s first 360 earned the top approval rating possible late in the game at Miami (OH) on January 19, MU All-America Ron Harper jumped off the bench and did a towel wave salute. No. 5: During a furious Huskie comeback in the NCAA game vs. Texas Tech on March 15, 1996, Northern Illinois guard Chris Coleman drew gasps, oohs, and aahs with a one-hand tomahawk dunk after taking off just inside the foul line on a break. Terry Green Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide 119

12 The Alumni Game A 15-foot leaner by Ephraim Eaddy ( ) with 0.8 seconds remaining gave the NIU Cardinal squad a victory over the NIU Black team in the third annual Northern Illinois University men s basketball Alumni Game. After a pair of contests at historic Chick Evans Field House, the NIU Alumni Game made its inaugural appearance at the new Convocation Center in style as fans witnessed a two-point outcome and a near triple double from current NIU assistant coach Carl Armato (15 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists). Former players and coaches alike returned to DeKalb from all over the country to test drive the new stomping grounds of Northern Illinois Basketball and did they ever feel at home. After 37 career double-doubles, most of which came at the Chick, Donnell Thomas, a 2003 NIU Hall of Fame inductee, dropped in a game high 24 points and 11 boards to christen the Convocation Center in his own way, another double-double. Paul Dawkins ( ) and Eaddy joined Thomas in double-figure scoring, as Dawkins added a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Eaddy s late runner got him into double digits with 10 points. Four former Huskies made it into double figures in scoring for the Black team, as Brad Waller ( ) led the way with 18 points, while Armato ( ) and 2003 NIU Hall of Fame inductee Donald Whiteside ( ) added 15 points apiece. Matt Nelson ( ) scored 10 to also reach double figures. The Cardinal team led with 2:41 to play before Whiteside canned a jumper and threepointer on consecutive possessions. Stacy Arrington ( ) canned both ends of a oneand-one with 20 seconds left, but Waller buried his sixth tri-lighter at the 0:08.4 mark to tie the game at 71-all. Eaddy took the inbounds pass, dribbled between two defenders, and launched the decisive shot to gain the victory. The Cardinal team led at intermission but the Black unit scored 11 consecutive points to open the second half. Armato s triple gave the Black team a advantage but the Cardinal squad, aided by the coaching advice of longtime sideline boss John McDougal, overcame the deficit with a ten-point run of its own. Donald Whiteside takes Donnell Thomas to the rack. The game s rosters featured several additional Huskie legends including NIU Athletics Hall of Famer Kenny Battle ( ), who had five points and six rebounds for the victors and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famers Waller and Chuck Schramm ( ). The Cardinal squad shot 34.1 percent (31-of- 91) from the field and made seven of eight free throw attempts. The Black team, under the direction of 2003 NIU Hall of Fame inductee Mike Korcek, took a while to get heated up from the floor, hitting just 11-of-37 (29.7 percent) shots from the floor in the first half, but improved to 44 percent (17- of-39) in the second frame. However, 17 turnovers contributed to the final outcome as the Cardinal team had only seven miscues. The Alumni Game - Cardinal 73, Black 71 February 22, 2003 at DeKalb, IL Black (71) FG-A 3FG-A FT-A Reb. A ST Pts. Larry Walter Art Rohlman John Benson Carl Armato Donald Whiteside Bruce Janus Brad Waller Bob Green Shawn Thrower Phil Trager Matt Hicks Matt Nelson Ron Lindfors Team 2 Totals Pct Black (71) FG-A 3FG-A FT-A Reb. A ST Pts. Kenny Battle Chuck Schramm Stacy Arrington Paul Dawkins Donnell Thomas Ephraim Eaddy Earl McKelvy Joe Parys Mike Padden Rodney Pruitt Team 3 Totals Pct Cardinal Black Dawkins and Armato captured team Most Valuable Player honors for their respective squads. Dawkins hit eight of 17 shots from the floor and also logged one of the Cardinal s five blocked shots, while Armato canned five of eight attempts behind the arc. Armato also drew applause for questioning Korcek s coaching tactics after the Black team failed to get off a potential game-winning shot before the final horn. Front Row: John Harris, Larry Walter, Earl McKelvy, Willie Hanson, Donald Whiteside, Stacy Arrington, Chuck Schramm, John Benson, Bob Green, Black Head Coach Mike Korcek Middle Row: Bill Harris, Robert Collins, Mike Padden, Head Coach John McDougal, Brad Waller, Joe Parys, Rod Pruitt, Carl Armato, Matt Hicks, Bruce Janus, Phil Trager, Art Rohlman, Ephraim Eaddy, Kenny Battle, Donnell Thomas, Walt Owens. Back Row: Red Head Coach Bill Finucane, Matt Hardy, Cliff Fulton, Ron Lindfors, Paul Dawkins, Shawn Thrower, Jim O Brien, Matt Nelson, Roger Dutton Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide

13 The Alumni Game Donnell Thomas Hall of Fame Coaches John McDougal and Tom Jorgensen Bruce Moose Janus From left to right: John Benson, Art Rohlman Paul Dawkins plays keepaway from Matt Hitch Bob Green Matt Nelson Carl Armato Ephraim Eaddy Black Team Head Coach Mike Korcek Shawn Thrower Phil Trager Northern Illinois Men s Basketball Media Guide 121