Red And Black Attack

SB Nation Survey + Chance to donate $500 to a charity of this community's choice

2010-03-20T00:48:01Z

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Cinderella in the making: #14 Ohio upsets #3 Georgetown

2010-03-19T13:33:21Z

Cinderella in the making: #14 Ohio upsets #3 Georgetown

And they were seeded 9th in the MAC tourney...

Consider this your March Madness Open Thread!!!!

NIU Spring Memes: Reopening of the Running Back Factory

2010-03-17T15:04:55Z

More photos » Chris Young - AP

Browse more photos »

Part II of an oh-so-early look at the themes that will mesmerize us when Northern Illinois Spring Practice starts March 23rd.

Running Back never used to be an issue at Northern Illinois. When Thomas Hammock developed his heart condition in 2002, that just gave way to Michael Turner. If not Turner, then there were a lot of capable backups to plug in there like Adrian Davis or A.J. Harris. Then Turner handed his torch on to Garrett Wolfe in 2004, who at one time was 5th or 6th string RB on the depth chart.

The fun and games stopped soon afterwards as the Huskies put together a 2-10 season in 2007. With the lack of any sort of balanced attack, Justin Anderson had a fine season with 1,245 yds on the ground and 45 catches for 263 yds through the air, 11 TDs total. Montell Clanton went down his 2nd straight season with an ACL injury. David Bryant was still in the backfield. Maybe it was the O-Line or the new coordinator, but there just wasn't a sizzle with anybody toting the rock.

2008 was a lot of the same sort of thing: Coaching changes and transition of the offense. QB Chandler Harnish was the leading rusher that season with 539 yds and 4 TDs. The leading RBs were Me'co Brown with 510 and 2 TDs and Chad Spann with 429 yds and 8 TDs.

Last year was back to a bit of normalcy for the Huskies running game. Chad Spann was the leading rusher for the Huskies toting the ball 179 times for 1,060 yds and 19 TDs. However Kill's obsession with giving Me'co Brown the ball constantly despite being a less effective RB proved costly. All you have to do is look at the stats: In a 31-34 loss to Idaho, Spann had only 4 carries. Against Toledo, we lose 19-20 and Spann only gets 6 carries?? We even put up a missing person report up around here!

This was best exemplified in the "Me'co up the middle on 2nd and 3rd down game" against Ohio. Huskies are in opponent territory looking to complete their comeback against the Bobcats down 28-31 and then this happens:

(1st and 10) SPANN, Chad rush for 8 yards to the OHIO43 (MOORE, Gerald;WILLIAMSON, M.).

(2nd and 2) BROWN, Me'co rush for no gain to the OHIO43 (KELLER, Noah).

(3rd and 2) BROWN, Me'co rush for no gain to the OHIO43 (NOTESTINE, Dak;TAFUA, Patrick).

(4th and 2) Timeout Northern Illinois, clock 03:36.

(4th and 2) HARNISH, Chand rush for 1 yard to the OHIO42 (RENFRO, Lee;TAFUA, Patrick).

Seriously. What. The. Heck.

What completely tortured fans for an entire season won't even be an issue in 2010. I wish Me'co the best on his future ventures, but for the sake of this team his departure was probably a positive. No quibbling about whether he should get more carries should help some of the other unsung guys see extra time and prove their worth on the field.

Fortress of Solitude

Superman Spann (SR, 5'9" 198) is back with a vengeance. 19 touchdowns? Peanuts. Given the keys to the starting running back position, Spann will run wild in 2010. The former walk-on has a blend of pure power and desire to get into the endzone that defenders fear. He's not the fastest or most athletic person out there, but he sure gets the job done. We've only begun to see the surface of his potential in the backfield.

Spann was named Offensive & Team MVP and 1st Team All-MAC this past season.

Upperclassmen Infusion

Cameron Bell (JR, 6'2" 242) is a former Iowa State linebacker that had to sit out all of last year due to NCAA transfer rules. In high school at Stony Point in Round Rock, TX he rushed for 3,000 yds in his career and scored 11 TDs as a senior. He chose Iowa State over Michigan State, Central Michigan, New Mexico, New Mexico State & UTEP. Was only 6'1" 215 lbs coming out of high school and played as a true freshman for the Cyclones.

With his size, there should be no hesitation on who gets the ball up the middle on 3rd and short anymore.

Closest comparison: Think A.J. Harris on steroids. Or Brandon Jacobs (6'4" 260), who played under Coach Kill at SIU.

Jasmin Hopkins (JR, 5'9" 174, Youtube) led the JUCO ranks last year rushing for 1,931 yds and 16 TDs. Also won the NJCAA Player of the Year award, which is like a mini-Heisman. Hopkins is a tough, tough runner and will get the maximum yardage that he can get on every single play. He's also got tremendous agility and cutting abilities, but lacks that top-end speed that some scat backs possess. He's not going to be flashy, but he'll surprise a lot of opponents.

Closest comparison: Garrett Wolfe with a bigger frame and less quickness (nobody's as fast as Wolfe is).

Could Surprise

Antione Kirkland (rFR, 5'11" 198) is a guy that could come out of nowhere and get a decent amount of carries. The Florida native is the only underclassman RB that we really have on the roster, so it would be great to see him develop some skills for when he's ready to step into the spotlight. He surprised a lot of people last spring, now it's time to do it again with the 1st and 2nd team offense.

Sidenote: Learn how to spell his name right: the I goes before the O instead of the other way around.

Ricky Crider (SR, 5'9" 190) struggled with a hamstring injury for the former part of last year, but eventually got to see some time later on in the season. He is a special teams maven and will continue to be dominant in returning kickoffs.

Akeem Daniels (FR, 5'7" 180) is a speed demon and has enrolled early for spring ball. The younger brother of Kiaree rushed for 845 yds and 9 TDs his senior year. Also could see some time at the slot position. He'll find the field somehow this fall.

Alan Smith (JR, 5'10" 208) and Barrington Scott (rFR 5'11" 200) will look to help out on the scout team this year.

Poll

Which newcomer will make the biggest impact in the Huskies backfield this upcoming season?

NIU Spring Memes: Quarterbackapalooza

2010-03-15T05:31:09Z

An oh-so-early look at the themes that will mesmerize us when Northern Illinois Spring Practice starts March 23rd. This is part I.

I know what you're all thinking Huskie fans. Another year, another team without a quarterback. Out of any position on the team, it truly has been the hardest to build depth at in recent years. Unlike 2007 when we had Dan Nicholson and a pile of bricks on the bench, 2010's group of signal-callers actually is pretty deep. I think we're back to the pre-2008 offseason where quarterback was anybody's position to take. Only this time, Harnish takes the Nicholson spot as the banged up "veteran".

See you in the summer

Incumbent starter Chandler Harnish (6'2" 219) will not be participating in Spring Practice, because of a lingering right knee injury that is going to require surgery. No word on whether the surgery already happened or not (I hope it has). My question is why the heck are they waiting so long to have the surgery if it is going to take several months of rehab before Harnish can see the field again?

Let's review this schedule

10/17 - Toledo Rockets make Chandler's knee asplode
10/20 - Harnish has minor surgery on his knee
11/12 - Harnish returns in the 2nd half vs. Ball State
1/2 - Huskies lose International Bowl
2/3 - Kill says Harnish's knee isn't healing properly
3/5 - Kill announces Harnish will miss Spring Practice & have surgery

Shouldn't he have had surgery on Jan. 3rd? What was the holdup here? Something is very, very fishy about this whole situation. Harnish has missed a significant amount of time in both 2008 and 2009 due to injuries. Will he ever be able to last a full season again with the amount of carries our quarterbacks get?

Due to the uncertainty that Harnish brings to the situation, the Huskies decided to go out and get Casey Weston (6'2" 215) out of Northwest Mississippi C.C. He was the leading passer in the junior college ranks this past year with 2,871 yds and a 27-12 TD to INT ratio. The reason he was available to the Huskies was because of the fact that he wouldn't be available for the Spring as so many JUCO kids are. Otherwise, I am confident he would have gone to a BCS school somewhere.

What about me coach?

Did you know that DeMarcus Grady (6'1" 203) is 5-1 as a starter? And that his first start was against Tennessee in Knoxville? And that he likes to spend time in South Beach hanging with Chad Ochocinco?

Well it's starting to sound like Kill is not endorsing Grady in any way as the starter.

"We recruited a junior college quarterback that’s very talented," Kill said. "Because if something happened with Chandler, I want to make sure we have a guy that’s been underneath center."

Oook. Kill could have used his words a little better, but I think he's trying to say that Weston has two full years experience as a starter slinging the ball around and Grady has just been used in mop-up duty. If Grady continues to develop at an accelerated rate this offseason, he could be a potential surprise. As the season went on, fans were witness to his progression as a passer. He has the arm strength, he just needs to work on his accuracy and decision making.

EVERY GANG NEEDS A WILDCARD

Grady was in at QB a lot last year as the backup. Thank goodness he (and Ryan Morris) stayed healthy, because otherwise we would have to had to pull a redshirt off of one of the freshman QBs.

Jordan Lynch (6'1" 212) was designated 4th string last year, making the trip to Miami after Harnish got hurt. He threw for 1,221 yds and 16 TDs for Joliet Catholic and added 848 yds and 15 TDs on the ground. If he doesn't fit into the QB situation, he could also play on the other side of the ball at the safety position (USA! USA!). Most of the schools recruiting him just wanted him to play defense, but NIU liked him in the pocket.

A.J. Hill (6'2" 206, Youtube) has the bloodlines as his older brother Nick Hill played for Coach Kill at Southern Illinois. Threw for 2,119 yds (31-4 TD to INT) and rushed for 751 yds and 18 TDs. May have played against softer competition against DuQuoin, but after redshirting should be ready for the big time. 3-star prospect and the #25 player in 2009's state of IL class.

Tommy Coughlin (6'2" 180) ~~hopefully learned what a weight room was this past offseason. I wonder when the player weights are going to update?~~ Apparently today. Way to gain 20 lbs in the offseason!! I'm rooting for Tommy, I really am. Maybe he can take up Ryan Morris' spot at the holder position.

Poll

Who is your way too early pick to start against Iowa State?

A sneak preview of NIU's 2010 Non-Conference Schedule

2010-03-12T18:57:55Z

More photos » Steve Pope - AP

According to Kill, there's only one game on the schedule right now: IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE

Browse more photos »

OOC scheduling has been a topic of much debate these past few years. When is a BCS team going to visit DeKalb? Why are we playing these Soldier Field "home games"? Why are we scheduling these crapola I-AA opponents?

Well, Kansas will be coming to Dekalb in 2012. We play the Soldier Field games to generate $$$$ which is so valuable in these times especially with a school like ours. The next SF game will be against Wisconsin in 2011 and it's looking like Iowa in 2012, unless Notre Dame swoops in for the kill.

That's all fine and dandy, but what about NOW? Spring Practice is going to start up March 23rd and the Kill-isms will be out in full-force. "One game at a time" will start ringing through our ears ad nauseum.

To break down the schedule, we are going to take the Sagarin ranking of these teams from 2009 and also insert info about how many starters will be returning in 2010 provided by Phil Steele. I'm not counting FCS/I-AA teams in the rankings, because our new philosophy is to schedule patsies and then steamroll them as a break in the non-conf (excl. SIU 2007, WIU 2002).

2010

66 Iowa State (7-6)

Returning Starters: O: 8 / D: 4 / ST: 2 / Total: 14

~~148 North Dakota (6-5)~~

94 Illinois (3-9)

Returning Starters: O: 5 / D: 7 / ST: 1 / Total: 13

64 Minnesota (6-7)

Returning Starters: O: 9 / D: 2 / ST: 1 / Total: 12

Avg Sagarin: 75

Initial thoughts

Even though all 3 of these games will be on the road, it's not like we have to travel very far to get to any of these stadiums (5 hrs, 3 hrs, 6.5 hrs). It's not like we're facing any unbeatable force either. All of these teams will have trouble this year breaking the top-50, much less the top-60.

Iowa State's defense was REALLY BAD last year. We're talking 99th in ypg, 106th DFEI & 110th S&P. The fact that they lose so much from that horrible defense could be a good thing for them, but most likely it's a bad thing. If we develop even something resembling an offense this offseason, we should cut through them like butter.

Illinois loses whatever semblance of an offense (aka Rejus Benn) they had with only 5 starters returning. Their 91st ranked defense might be a little better, but this team is also coached by Ron Zook. Last-ditch efforts to bring in new coordinators on both sides of the ball is going to prove costly as systems take time to implement.

Minnesota's defense was actually their strength (compared to their offense) last year, but they will be returning only 2 (TWO!) starters on that side of the ball in 2010. On offense they were 109th in the nation in ypg, so they dumped their offensive coordinator. Their new hire? Jeff Horton, the same guy that was QB coach for Wisconsin when we sacked Brooks Bollinger 10 times as the refs stole the game away from us back in 2002. This is their 4th OC in 4 years, so yeah they may have some issues, especially with WR Eric Decker gone.

Comparison to previous years

After the jump, we'll compare 2010's non-conference schedule to those of the past and see how they stack up.

2002 (8-4)

42 Wake Forest (7-6) W

34 South Florida (9-2) L

32 Wisconsin (8-6) L

~~67 Western Illinois (11-2)~~ L

Avg Sagarin: 36

NIU's final ranking: 55th

2003 (10-2)

10 Maryland (10-3) W

~~198 Tennessee Tech (2-9)~~ W

48 Alabama (4-9) W

106 Iowa State (2-10) W

Avg Sagarin: 55

NIU's final ranking: 47th

2004 (9-3)

47 Maryland (5-6) L

~~89 Southern Illinois (10-2)~~ W

52 Iowa State (7-5) L

Avg Sagarin: 50

NIU's final ranking: 69th

2005 (7-5)

16 Michigan (7-5) L

34 Northwestern (7-5) L

~~197 Tennessee Tech (4-7)~~ W

Avg Sagarin: 25

NIU's final ranking: 60th

2006 (7-6)

4 Ohio State (12-1) L

~~211 Indiana State (1-10)~~ W

51 Iowa (6-7) L

Avg Sagarin: 28

NIU's final ranking: 85th

2007 (2-10)

79 Iowa (6-6) L

~~76 Southern Illinois (12-2)~~ L

175 Idaho (1-11) W

36 Wisconsin (9-4) L

Avg Sagarin: 97

NIU's final ranking: 150th

2008 (6-7)

75 Minnesota (7-6) L

~~233 Indiana State (0-12)~~ W

58 Tennessee (5-7) L

51 Navy (8-5) L

Avg Sagarin: 62

NIU's final ranking: 100th

2009 (7-6)

23 Wisconsin (10-3) L

~~208 Western Illinois (1-10)~~ W

75 Purdue (5-7) W

85 Idaho (8-5) L

Avg Sagarin: 61

NIU's final ranking: 95th

2010's avg. Sagarin ranking of 75 is the lowest with the exception of 2007's 97th. NIU was just so bad that year that if we could have beaten Iowa if we even had a decent team. The difference between that year and this year is the fact that we won't be playing any top-50 or even top-60 teams it seems like. Wisconsin was pretty tough that year at 36th and they demolished us.

Is this NIU's easiest non-conf schedule ever? I'd be worried if we were facing a tough team like 2003 Maryland on the road, but we're not this year. Even though all the games are on the road, all of them are schools only a state or two away. The possibility is there to beat all of these teams. That is, if this team can play up to their expectations.

And if we can find a quarterback...and a running back...and an offensive line...but hey that's what Spring Practice is for, right!

Poll

How will the Huskies do OOC in 2010?

Quarterfinal quandaries and thoughts on the All-MAC Team

2010-03-11T13:47:37Z

Today's Lineup:

No. 2 Central Michigan vs. No. 7 Western Michigan at 11 a.m.
No. 3 Akron vs. No. 6 Eastern Michigan at 1:30 p.m.
No. 1 Kent State vs. No. 9 Ohio at 6 p.m.
4 Miami vs. No. 5 Buffalo at 8:30 p.m.

My predictions: CMU, Akron, Kent State & I'll have to go with Miami who plays a Buffalo team that is pretty much on the road.

All games will be broadcast on FS Ohio and ESPN360.

All-MAC Teams announced:

All-MAC First Team
Jimmy Conyers, Akron
Rodney Pierce, Buffalo
Kenny Hayes, Miami
David Kool, Western Michigan
Chris Singletary, Kent State

All-MAC Second Team
Jordan Bitzer, Central Michigan
Robbie Harman, Central Michigan
Carlos Medlock, Eastern Michigan
Brandon Bowdry, Eastern Michigan (Junior)
Justin Greene, Kent State (Sophomore)

That is a LOT of seniors that will be graduating that have been playing forever for their respective teams. Kenny Hayes, Chris Singletary, Robbie Harman & Carlos Medlock all played point guard, which is essentially the quarterback for your offense. Kool was MAC player of the year, so that will kill WMU and CMU loses their wondertwins who shoot 3-pointers in Bitzer and Harman. With all these guards graduating, I'm assuming the big focus in the conference will be front-court play next year with guys like 6'6" Brandon Bowdry (16.1 ppg, 9.8 rpg) and 6'8" Justin Greene (13.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg) returning (hello Nate Rucker).

All-MAC Honorable Mention
Chris McKnight, Akron
Brett McKnight, Akron (Junior)
Jarrod Jones, Ball State (Sophomore)
Scott Thomas, Bowling Green (Sophomore)
Calvin Betts, Buffalo
Justin Dobbins, Eastern Michigan
Julian Mavunga, Miami (Sophomore)
Xavier Silas, Northern Illinois (Junior)
D.J. Cooper, Ohio (Freshman)
Armon Bassett, Ohio (Junior)

Hey we have a Xavier Silas sighting for HM! Just going on which teams lose the least amount of talent, I'd have to peg Ball State as the favorites next year in the West and Ohio or Akron as favorites in the East. The depth just won't be there next year in the conference and Northern Illinois may actually be able to have a successful season.

All-Freshman Team
Zeke Marshall, Akron
Jauwan Scaife, Ball State
D.J. Cooper, Ohio
Jake Barnett, Toledo
Nate Hutcheson, Western Michigan

As we all know because of the DiNunno incident, All-Freshman Team in the MAC doesn't mean squat. Still, for Illinois native D.J. Cooper to get HM as well after an amazing freshman year is impressive. Just goes to show you how important a point guard is to your squad (hello Kyree Jones).

A Recent Timeline of NIU Basketball

2010-03-09T08:12:59Z

More photos » Jim Prisching - AP

Why were Jake Anderson and friends so overmatched this season? Your guess is as good as mine.

Browse more photos »

6-22, 10-20, 10-20. Those are the records of Ricardo Patton's 1st three years as head of the Northern Illinois basketball program. That fact is that this team isn't any fun to watch at all. It's a different type of suffering than back in the Judson days. These Patton teams have a lot more talent and athleticism than a lot of the teams preceding them. The fact is that this team just does not play up to their potential that they're capable of. Now this can lay blame on the coaching staff or the players themselves, or both. I'm going to just put a slight weight on how the coaches didn't prepare this team for the 2009-10 season.

NIU lost one player (ONE) in Sean Smith this past off-season. This team was supposed to be leaps and bound better than last year. NIU basketball was supposed to be back! What happened??? I HAVE NO IDEA. That's the frustrating part. The defense was the same mediocre defense like last years, but the offense actually regressed from last year. I would have been fine with the Huskies shooting the lights out of the ball and winning a few offensive shootouts, but that never happened.

Regressing from a 223rd ranked Effective FG% to 310th? 3-pt shooting down from 34.4% to 30.0%?? Jake Anderson would disappear one game and Xavier Silas was never a savior like he was so hyped up to be. Mike DiNunno came out missing threes at the point and would never stop. Sean Kowal was a nice surprise in the middle, but what the heck happened to Michael Fakuade? Tyler Storm? Najul Ervin? I just don't get it and I don't think anybody watching does.

What were Judson's records like? 12-16, 17-14, 10-20, 11-17, 17-11, 7-23. The obscure fact that we won the MAC West in 2006 is completely irrelevant considering we went down in the 1st round of the tournament that year. NIU is now 0-11 in the MAC tourney since re-joining the MAC. The drought in the MAC tourney dates all the way back to 1982 when we won the whole darn thing.

How did this all come about? Let's take a look:

The Downfall

3/15/96 - NIU's last NCAA Tournament appearance, a 73-74 loss to Texas Tech

1997 - NIU re-joins the MAC

3/6/01 - Rob Judson hired as head coach

2006-07 - Mike DiNunno commits to play for NIU, Darion "Jake" Anderson redshirts his freshman year

3/10/07 - Rob Judson fired after compiling a 74-101 record over seven years

Patton's 1st Year

3/19/07 - Ricardo Patton is hired as head coach

4/9/07 - Patton completes his coaching staff

5/11/07 - Patton inks Najul Ervin (3 yrs) and Sean Smith (2 yrs)

2007 - Other additions: Jeremy Landers, Michael Patton, Sean Kowal (transfer, 3 yrs) Lee Fisher (redshirts) & Michael Fakuade (redshirts)

11/15/07 - Mike DiNunno, Bryan Hall & Tyler Storm sign with the Huskies

11/30/07 - ~~Dominique Johnson signs with the Huskies,~~ never enrolls.

Patton's 2nd Year

4/17/08 - ~~Jerwin Callaway~~, Keith Smith & Xavier Silas (transfer, 2 yrs) sign with the Huskies

5/16/08 - Ante Dzepina (2 yrs) signs with the Huskies

Patton's 3rd Year

11/13/08 - Tony Nixon signs with the Huskies

11/11/09 - Nate Rucker signs with the Huskies

2/21/10 - Kyree Jones signs with the Huskies

I think it's interesting to note that 10 out of the 14 players on NIU's roster that see regular playing time were recruited before Patton even had a chance to get his feet wet. He completely demolished what was left of Judson's roster, keeping the week-old leftovers of Jake Anderson & Mike DiNunno. It just seems like those two guys are in their own world for majority of games.

His 2nd year wasn't impressive either. A couple backups and Xavier Silas, who played for Patton at Colorado.

Seeing Patton's last 3 recruits gives me hope for the future. Tony Nixon was really good at certain points as a freshman. Nate Rucker is owning everybody in Tennessee and Kyree Jones sounds like he'll be a winner at the point. Maybe Patton's recruiting is really coming around?

Isn't that exactly what we need? An extra dominant big man and someone better to run this offense at point?

We'll find out soon enough, but will that be enough for Patton to keep his job?

Poll

Is there hope for the NIU Men's Basketball Program in the near future?

Breaking News: Me'co Brown withdraws from NIU

2010-03-08T20:56:24Z

No speculation this time, Me'co Brown is no longer a Huskie, but left on his own accord.

NIU head coach Jerry Kill said in a press release today that Brown has withdrawn from school for personal reasons. The junior back was earlier speculated to have been kicked off the team by Kill, but those reports were unfounded.

Brown was on the team as of Jan. 12 despite missing the International Bowl for family reasons.

In two seasons, Brown gained 1,155 rushing yards on 258 carries , and started14 games for the Huskies. He was second on the 2009 team with 645 rushing yards on 148 carries and four touchdowns.

More to come on the impact of Brown's departure, filling the void, and any other information that comes available.

MAC Tourney Rd. I Game Thread: NIU @ Eastern Michigan

2010-03-07T09:37:39Z

Northern Illinois Huskies (10-19, 6-10) vs. the Eastern Michigan Eagles (16-14, 8-8)
Tipoff: 1 PM
The [Evil] Convocation Center, Ypsilanti, MI
TV: EMUEagles.com ($) Radio: WSCR (if they feel like it) / WEMU

It's win or go home for the Huskies. The defense has been there lately, it's only a matter of coming together as an offense and being efficient. A run in this tourney can make a huge footprint and spin a lot of momentum going into the offseason. A loss here would just be more of the same old Huskies that have burning our retinas for years now.

Take it away X:

OM NOM NOM NOM. GET HUNGRY HUSKIES!!!!!

It's True, DON'T MESS WITH THE DIECKHAUS

2010-03-05T06:00:05Z

It's True, DON'T MESS WITH THE DIECKHAUS

It's pronounced just like you think it is.

This would have been a lot more epic if this involved an Iowa athlete of some sort. Despite the fact they beat the crap out of the guy, this act was merely pedestrian. Just like NIU's wrestling this season.

Najul Ervin & Ante Dzepina we hardly knew ye

2010-03-04T14:28:58Z

Senior night tonight against the Toledo Rockets. You never know what you're going to get out of the Huskies, so let's just focus on these two seniors that will be honored tonight.

Memphis native Najul Ervin came to the Huskies after averaging one year at Kankakee CC, where he averaged 4.8 pts and 5.8 rpg for the Cavs. He was always supposed to be a defensive specialist for the Huskies. Memphis is a hotspot for Huskie recruiting where Ervin played his AAU ball. Jul's father is even an assistant coach at incoming freshman Nate Rucker's Melrose high school.

Season	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	APG	RPG	BPG	SPG
2009-10	26	12.615	1.923	53.5	0.0	30.8	0.538	2.423	0.577	0.385
2008-09	30	19.1	3.367	50.0	0.0	29.7	1.0	4.467	0.533	1.233
2007-08	25	10.7	2.4	47.1	0.0	35.3	0.5	2.4	0.5	0.4

Career	81	14.4	2.6	50.0	0.0	32.1	0.7	3.2	0.5	0.7

His career peaked during last season, where he would see almost 20 min per game, compared to just over 10 this season. Also, his possessions have been cut way, way down for some reason.

NCAA Basketball Stats

I just can't believe that in a season that were were lacking so much defense, that Najul would sit this much on the bench. He only started 8 games this year, compared to 26 last year. It's just one of those weird things that I don't think we'll ever figure out. Most of his playing time went to former walk-ons Lee Fisher and Michael Fakuade to mixed results.

Ante Dzepina came to the Huskies by way of Highland CC in Kansas, where he averaged 6 pts and 6.1 rpg for the Cougars. Originally, he's from Kraljevica, Croatia and has continued to learn the English language better these past couple years.

Season	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	APG	RPG	BPG	SPG
2009-10	23	6.391	1.13	29.0	0.0	42.1	0.304	1.87	0.261	0.13
2008-09	30	10.233	3.433	57.6	0.0	54.0	0.133	2.667	0.233	0.267

Career	53	8.6	2.4	48.4	0.0	50.7	0.2	2.3	0.2	0.2

Just like Najul, Ante has seen his minutes decrease this year as well. Sean Kowal stepped up his game this year as the big man and Patton really liked smaller lineups.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Both of these seniors seeing less minutes this year is a sign that Patton is building for the future of the program. Yes, he does recruit JUCOs. He had to get more bodies in there as he was trying to recruit and develop his team. It's hard to have Ervin in there, if he's never going to see the ball on the offensive end of things. It lets defenses key on you too easily. It's hard to have Ante in there, because his big body is going to have a tough time in transition. With Silas & Nixon coming in, you knew there was going to be some changes.

It's just a shame that we weren't able to see their best years this year. Both will major in Communications.

NIU Baseball get swept by Austin Peay in heartbreaking fashion

2010-03-03T15:03:17Z

In this past weekend's games nothing went the Huskies way, especially on the defensive end. It certainly didn't start off well either:

We arrived at the hotel pretty late and to top it off, none of our keys worked. So there were quite a few tired and irritated guys here. We have a 4pm game tomorrow so we have some free time to either sleep, hang out or maybe get some homework done during the day.

Game 4: Northern Illinois 4, Austin Peay 7 (Box)

-------------------------------------------
Northern Illinois... 100 000 012 -  4  9  4
Austin Peay......... 421 000 00X -  7  6  3
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"Unlucky Lefty" Chuck Lukanen (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) recovered from a shaky 1st inning in which he gave up all three of his earned runs and went on to give a solid performance. The problem is that the defense committed 4 (FOUR) errors behind Chuck. Two by 1B Dave Reynolds in the first couple innings gave 3 runs to the opposition and SS Alex Jones gave up one in the 2nd. 3B Troy White committed an error in the 5th, but after the bases got loaded up, Chuck retired the final 3 batters of the inning.

If those early innings don't happen, the Huskies win this game. RF Jordin Hood (3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) hit his a 2-run home run in the 9th to put the Huskies somewhat in this one. DH Joe Etcheverry (1-3, 2B, 2 BB, 1 SO) had a nice game getting on base while getting that XBH. Reynolds (3-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB) played pretty well, but didn't come close to making up for the errors. NIU's LOB was 12 compared to Peay's 7.

Kyle Glancy made his debut this year in the bullpen and Tom Barry bounced back from getting destroyed by ASU to finish the game. Neither surrendered a run.

Game 5: Northern Illinois 3, Austin Peay 4 (Box)

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Northern Illinois... 000 001 002 -  3  4  3
Austin Peay......... 002 110 00X -  4  5  1
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Zach Oates (7.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) pitched the game of his life, entrenching him in one of the top starting spots on this squad. But the Huskies still couldn't win because of a lack of defense again. Jayme Wells made his first start at 2B and made two critical errors giving up 2 runs in the 3rd and the 5th innings. Cory Krupp made his first start in LF and also dropped a crucial ball in the 3rd inning as well. Tom Zelasko pitched one scoreless inning to end it.

The leadoff man Krupp (0-2, 3 BB, 1 RBI, 1 SB) was our best threat getting on base even though he didn't get a hit. Jordin Hood (1-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 SO) racked up some pretty decent stats. We had a high LOB again with 10 compared to Peay's 3. The Huskies also struck out 15 times compared to only 6 K's dealt to Peay.

Game 6: Northern Illinois 8, Austin Peay 9 (Box)

----------------------------------------------
Northern Illinois... 000 040 013 00 -  8 10  7
Austin Peay......... 102 010 220 01 -  9  8  1
----------------------------------------------

In keeping with the theme of the weekend, 1B Dave Reynolds, 3B Troy White, RF Jake Hermsen (twice), C Brett Frantini and SS Alex Jones (twice) all had errors in this game! That's 6 runs given up on 7 errors!!!!

Jeremy Gonzales (5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 BB, 1 SO) had a solid start, despite struggling with finding the strike zone. Glancy (1.1 IP), Zelasko (0.2 IP), Andy Dean (0.2 IP) and Barry (3.0 IP) all didn't give up a single earned run in relief.

The offense finally started to get going spearheaded by Joe Etcheverry (3-4, HR, 4 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB) and his 3-run home run in the 9th inning to tie the game at 8 a-piece. Troy White (1-5, 1 RBI, 2 R, HBP) is finally starting to get hot these past couple games and I believe that he can be the catalyst for the offense.

What to take from the weekend:

Our pitching is good, very good. Except our defense is bad, very bad. The errors will begin to disappear as the Huskies experience more games on the diamond. It also seems like the offense came around against a MAC-calibur team like Austin Peay. I'd be a lot more worried if our pitchers were getting shelled, but defense we can fix as the conference nears.

Up next the Huskies are goin' back to Cali:

The Huskies will get back to action next weekend as they head to California for their nine-game spring break trip starting with a noon CDT contest against Cal State Bakersfield on Friday, March 5th. NIU will also face Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara during the break.

The 2010 NIU Football Schedule is a mixed bag

2010-03-02T05:30:30Z

Per NIUHuskies.com:

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time

09/02/10 (Thurs)	at Iowa State	Ames, Iowa	TBA
09/11/10	vs. North Dakota	DeKalb, Ill.	TBA
09/18/10	at Illinois	Champaign, Ill.	TBA
09/25/10	at Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minn.	TBA
10/02/10	at Akron #	Akron, Ohio	TBA
10/09/10	vs. Temple #	DeKalb, Ill.	TBA
10/16/10	vs. Buffalo #	DeKalb, Ill.	TBA
10/23/10	vs. Central Michigan #	DeKalb, Ill.	TBA
10/30/10	at Western Michigan #	Kalamazoo, Mich.	TBA
11/09/10 (Tues)	vs. Toledo # (ESPN2)	DeKalb, Ill.	6:00 p.m. CT
11/20/10	at Ball State #	Muncie, Ind.	TBA
11/26/10 (Fri)	at Eastern Michigan # (ESPNU)	Ypsilanti, Mich.	TBA

Initial Thoughts

We'll go in to more detail about the non-conference part of the schedule later this week, but here's a summary: We already know how to beat Iowa State, the Fighting Illini are a program in shambles and Minnesota is beating on Ron Zook's door to become part of the Big 10 cellar. North Dakota is a nice home re-tooling game to give us have to get us through three straight road games. Also, we don't have to travel very far to any of our OOC sites.

Road Trippin'

The hardest part of the schedule is the 3-game road trip to Illinois, Minnesota & Akron. These three games will shape the season for the Huskies. It's scary because even though the first two opponents are exciting to play, the third game is the only one that matters in the entire scheme of things. Akron has a new coach and everything, but MAC road games are always tough. If we beat Illinois, Minnesota could be a trap game. If we beat Minnesota, Akron could be a trap game. Here's hoping to go at least 2-1 with that loss not being to the Zips.

One cool thing for the team and Huskie Road Crew members is that they get to visit two brand new stadiums in Minnesota's TCF Bank and Akron's InfoCision.

Seeing Triple

The biggest eyesore on the schedule is the 3-game homestand against Temple, Buffalo & Central Michigan. It's the same thing they did in 2008 with the Toledo homecoming beatdown sandwiched in between Miami and BGSU. It not only lessens the aura of homecoming (which will likely be Buffalo), three games in a row at home is just overkill for fans. It's basically a pick and choose one or two to attend if you work weekends or have prior commitments.

Temple will be hugely attended not only because they will be a great team next year, but also the fact that not seeing the Huskies play live for three straight weeks is like delaying an orgasm. UB will get a boost because of homecoming...CMU gets by on name recognition alone, despite the fact LeFevour and friends have passed on to greener pastures.

The season will come down to...

Early season: MAC East favorites Temple at home.

Late season: Toledo at home, on a Tues on ESPN2. I'm actually scared what might happen to the Rockets in this one. Kill owns the Rockets at home, despite the small sample size (1-0).

Surrounding that Toledo game is a whole mess of off-days for the Huskies so that they can heal up for their last two road games and the MAC Championship. But then again if the MAC West is wrapped up by then, we'll have nothing to worry about.

This is the schedule of a MAC Champion

I'm not saying the Huskies will win the MAC in 2010 (even though I think they will), but judging by schedule alone they have a winner. Their toughest few games will be in Huskie Stadium: Temple, Buffalo, Toledo and even a deconstructed Central Michigan who we usually own anyways. Akron, WMU and Ball State will be tricky opponents on the road, but these teams will be nothing like the Toledo's and the Bowling Green's of 2002-04.

The non-conference schedule is just mediocre enough for the Huskies to find that mid-range of getting enough experience for conference, while also not getting to beat up on the football field.

I speak for every fan when I say it's about time the Huskies get their sh*t together and win the MAC for once. This schedule gives the Huskies their best chance since the 2004 season. Hey, we played Iowa State that season as well. Hmm...and we only had 5 home games that year too.

What do you guys think about the schedule?

On losing 66-60 to Eastern Michigan

2010-02-28T17:49:30Z

Considering there's probably only 2 more games left in the season, it's time to look at how the Huskie basketball team and see if they can begin any sort of momentum towards next season.

Here's the stat of the game:

EMU's Field Goals Attempted: 51. NIU: 72
EMU's Free Throw Attempts: 48. NIU: 25

NCAA Basketball

Oh yeah and we only made 9 of those 25 (36%). Freshman Tony Nixon was 0 for 4, harrowing his % down to 44. Jeremy Landers & Ante Dzepina both were 0 for 2.

Patton want to put blame on the free throw percentage, but how about NIU stops hacking so much on the defensive end and letting opponents get to the line. There is a stat for this, it's called FT Rate and NIU is 307th in the country in allowing it to happen.

NIU should be lucky the game was as close as it was. If EMU shot free throws on par to their season average of 66.1%, they would have made 32 baskets instead of the 26 out of 48 (54.2%) that they did.

Now we're touting statistical advantages?

"That was absolutely the story of the game (today). We go 9-for-25 from the free throw line, and lose by six; that's not how you win on the road. We had a statistical advantage in every significant category besides free throw attempts, and free throw percentage. It's an incredibly tough way to lose a ball game, but we didn't control the things we know we can control, and that starts with being mentally tough."

An advantage in every stat? Really?

First of all, NIU only shot 30.6% from the field compared with EMU's 35.3%. As you can see from the chart above, EMU was also more efficient on the offensive end by a small margin. The culprits on offense were Xavier Silas (6-23, 26.1%) and Mike DiNunno (3-11, 27.3%). It was our 2nd worst game offensively (next to the Kent game) in conference play and we're bringing up how better we are in major offensive statistical categories? I think I have a lump in my throat or something...BLEAHHHHH.

Speaking of DiNunno, guess who the leader in assists was for this game? Sean Kowal with 3. W.T.F.

NIU played their best defense since defeating Toledo on the road back in January, but EMU's defense was better in this one. Or maybe our offense was just terrible. Or maybe EMU's offense was just less terrible than NIU's. But hey, it's splitting hairs at this point and all is one in the same.

In turnovers, NIU had one less than EMU with 9. Wow, what a huge advantage that was. Rebounding I'll have to hand it to the Huskies. They did a nice job on the boards with Sean Kowal grabbing 13 and Jake Anderson with 11. Again, what the heck is Jake Anderson doing getting 11 rebounds over all the big men. It wasn't flat-out domination, as they only had about a 5% advantage in rebounding percentage. EMU got their licks in.

And why is Patton defaulting to using stats as excuses in post-game interviews. Doesn't he see what goes on the court, or is it too hard to watch at this point?

I can't believe the official site just took Patton's quote and put it as a sub-headline:

The Huskies held statistical advantages in nearly every offensive and defensive category

No, they didn't. So um...how about you check the box score next time.

The Quarterback Position: Unsettled at NIU since 2004

2010-02-27T05:31:23Z

More photos » Chris Young - AP

Harnish's knee injury was just one of the many roadblocks in recent NIU quarterback history.

Browse more photos »

aka the first of many quarterback polls

Haldi. Oh how we miss you Josh Haldi. Let's just review his stats from his first 3 years. In 2004, he injured his foot in and missed the first 4 games, but went on to finish the season.

2002: 134 of 261 (51.3%) passing for 2,087 yds, 15-6 TD-INT ratio and 132.98 passing efficiency, 173.9 ypg
2003: 199 of 336 (59.2%) passing for 2,544 yds, 25-9 TD-INT ratio and 142.02 passing efficiency, 212 ypg
2004: 94 of 179 (52.5%) passing for 1,384 yds, 15-4 TD-INT ratio and 140.64 passing efficiency, 173 ypg

What stat do we miss the most? His 26-6 record as a starter. He even managed to do this under 3 different offensive coordinators (Roushar, Canada, Bond).

Let's review the quarterback position the last few years for the Huskies:

2005: Phil Horvath vs. Dan Nicholson

Horvath went from spot starter to statistical stud in 2005 until he broke his arm vs. CMU. Dan Nicholson came in and led the Huskies to their first win in Toledo in over 30 years. Nicholson's inexperience caught up to him as the Huskies fell victim to Akron in the MAC Championship and failed to make a bowl game. Horvath never passed the eye test, but seemed to get it done consistently throughout the of the season.

Final Stats:

Name	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	Int	TD	Rating	Att/G	Yards/G
1	Phil Horvath	JR	QB	9	238	168	70.6	2001	8.4	8	18	159.46	26.4	222.3
2	Dan Nicholson	FR	QB	6	95	59	62.1	831	8.7	2	6	152.21	15.8	138.5

2006: Phil Horvath vs. Dan Nicholson II

Horvath's lack of pure passing ability was magnified with the graduation of Sam Hurd and Shatone Powers. As his stats started to rapidly regress, the fans called-for and got Dan Nicholson towards the end of the season. Both starters split time in the eerie "fog game" against Toledo, but the Huskies lost 13-17 as winning the conference flew out the window and our punishment was to head to San Diego and get destroyed by TCU.

Final Stats:

	Name	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	Int	TD	Rating	Att/G	Yards/G
1	Phil Horvath	SR	QB	11	269	157	58.4	1932	7.2	9	11	125.49	24.5	175.6
2	Dan Nicholson	SO	QB	7	115	60	52.2	648	5.6	6	5	103.42	16.4	92.6

2007: Dan Nicholson vs. Interceptions/Injuries/RYAN MORRIS

People want to completely blame injuries on the 2-10 2007 season. I blame the fact that we didn't have a scholarship QB to backup Dan Nicholson. Enough said. The reason? The transfer of Billy Lowe (+ others) and the fact Novak didn't want to burn the redshirts of Chandler Harnish or DeMarcus Grady. Very similar to how we didn't trot out Jordan Lynch or A.J. Hill this past year.

Final Stats:

	Name	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	Int	TD	Rating	Att/G	Yards/G
1	Dan Nicholson	JR	QB	9	248	151	60.9	1633	6.6	14	9	116.89	27.6	181.4
2	Ryan Morris	SO	QB	8	127	67	52.8	727	5.7	5	4	103.37	15.9	90.9

2008: Dan Nicholson vs. Injuries/Chandler Harnish

The grizzled veteran with his arm falling off vs. the young gun redshirt freshman. It was drama until the first series against Minnesota, where the world met Harnish as he dazzled them with 326 yds and 2 TDs. The next game, #12 went down with an ankle injury against WMU that kept him out of four games. That combined with the lack of experience Harnish had as a starter caused him to falter down the stretch.

Final Stats:

Name	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	Int	TD	Rating	Att/G	Yards/G
1	Chandler Harnish	FR	QB	10	211	118	55.9	1528	7.2	9	8	120.73	21.1	152.8
2	Dan Nicholson	SR	QB	5	69	42	60.9	447	6.5	3	3	120.94	13.8	89.4
3	DeMarcus Grady	FR	QB	6	26	15	57.7	138	5.3	0	2	127.66	4.3	23.0

2009: Chandler Harnish vs. Injuries

As a whole, Harnish was putting together quite the season. That is, until Barry Church and the dastardly Toledo Rockets crashed in to his knee in Game 6. He came back, but never looked the same as the Huskies finished their final 3 games with losses against Ohio, CMU and finally USF in the International Bowl. Grady finally looked like a capable player behind center, but Harnish, when healthy, had a much firmer grip on running the offense.

Final Stats:

Name	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	Int	TD	Rating	Att/G	Yards/G
1	Chandler Harnish	SO	QB	11	223	143	64.1	1670	7.5	6	11	137.94	20.3	151.8
2	DeMarcus Grady	SO	QB	10	43	25	58.1	280	6.5	2	3	126.56	4.3	28.0

So what does it all mean?

Success for the Huskies is congruent to having a capable QB play at his maximum ability throughout the majority of the season. Now, he doesn't have to do anything special, just be efficient and do his job. For quarterbacks, arguably the most important stat is the efficiency rating. Haldi never even had a completion % over 56, but his 140+ efficiency passing the ball hasn't been matched since the ridiculous offense of 2005. The all-time leader in passing efficiency? Tim Tebow's 170.8 from 2006-09. Yeah.

I'm empathetic for Chandler Harnish's 2009 season. He was on his way there to becoming good, but the knee injury + inexperience at WR really hurt him down the stretch. Magnified in the bowl games were the inaccuracies that he had throwing the ball. It was either just a little to far or a just a little too short for the skill players to catch, which is unacceptable in division I football.

Maybe he was coming around before the injury, maybe he wasn't. The fact is that his knee is still messed up and we may never know exactly what he will have to offer for the 2010 Huskies. The huge difference between Harnish and Haldi is the fact that Haldi returned to 100% in 2004 and was a pocket passer, not a spread/running QB.

The other fact is that when we find a capable QB that can play the whole season, then we will have a successful season. The running backs and the offensive line can't do it all. They certainly helped, but there were times that Turner, Wolfe, etc could be stopped and the quarterback had to step up and win games.

Poll

Who is the best QB of the post-Haldi era?

Phil Horvath

20 votes

Dan Nicholson

4 votes

Chandler Harnish

29 votes

DeMarcus Grady

0 votes

Ryan Morris

1 votes

54 votes | Poll has closed

The Daily Diesel makes a triumphant return

2010-02-25T05:29:05Z

It's football off-season, which sucks. Good thing Diesel is here to deliver the news. Spring practice starts March 23rd. That's not for a while, so let's just go with what we got. What's that? The basketball team finally won a game??? Watch out MAC, here we come again.

So...how about that International Bowl trophy back? First South Florida loses their Coach Jim Leavitt due to "Coaches Gone Wild" charges allegedly slapping a player at halftime. Now, they are kicking off running back Mike Ford because of "an unspecified violation of team rules" There's a lot of leeway over what that might mean, but let's just say Ford is a bit of an all-star when it comes to team rules violations:

Ford has been suspended twice before, for one game in 2007 for missing classes and for the first two games of 2009 for a violation of team rules. He has also been arrested twice on driving-related infractions, turning himself in to Sarasota police in 2007 after missing a court date for driving without a valid license and registration, then getting arrested on campus in December for driving a moped on campus without a valid license.

What is David Bryant looking at in this photo?

Why couldn't have this happened BEFORE January 2nd, 2010? The International Bowl MVP had 207 yds and a TD against the Huskies, who couldn't stop him in the 2nd half.

In 2010, the Huskies will be more loaded than Zack Isaacman's gun stash...too soon? Another day, another poor article by CFN. Today's blasphemy:

While there aren’t many losses, they’ll hurt a bit. End Brandon Bice was the team’s best defensive player at times and finished earning first-team All-MAC honors.

Jake Coffman was arguably the teams best defensive player on the Huskies and he's gone along with Brandon Bice. Both were 2nd team All-MAC, so I don't know what this site is smoking. Plus they have Coffman returning. Moving on...

Nine starters return on offense, including the backfield tandem of Chad Spann and Me’co Brown, along with QB Chandler Harnish, while nine starters are back on defense. Basically, the team is loaded. Absolutely loaded.

Actually we lose 8 starters on offense if you include Reed Cunningham. He didn't have 8 starts last year including the International Bowl or anything. Nah, they must be thinking of somebody else. They also have RB Bryan Schroeder returning to Central Michigan, which is not happening.

Lindsay Willhite knows more about obscure NIU basketball recruits than you do. If there's one mainstream writer that knows about MAC basketball, it's Willhite who writes the preseason prospectus for the conference in the Blue Ribbon preview mag. He points out a bit of hypocrisy surrounding coach Patton's comments in a recent HuskieWire article:

"There are no quick fixes. There are no easy solutions when you’re trying to do things the right way. We didn’t come in with with a quick agenda to go out and sign a ton of junior college players and run the risk of those guys not graduating. So we’re trying to do it the right way with young guys and have them grow and develop."

How "Novakish" (Novakian?) of you Mr. Patton, just too bad it's not true.

Fortunately, I keep a spreadsheet that tracks every local college's scholarships and commitments. Patton was hired in March 2007.

OH SH*T HE'S GOT SPREADSHEETS

Prior to his first season, he brought in four scholarship players.

One was a junior-college player with 2 years remaining (Sean Smith).

One was a juco with 3 years remaining (Najul Ervin).

Prior to Patton's second season, he signed two jucos who didn't pass academic muster and went elsewhere (Dominique Johnson and Jerwin Callaway). He also signed four freshmen and brought in Xavier Silas as a Colorado transfer.

Oh, and when neither Johnson nor Callaway made it in school, he signed juco big man Ante Dzepina.

Prior to the current season, Patton received a commitment from juco big man DeAngelo Riley, but he wound up at Ole Miss.

So for Patton to suggest he didn't try to mine the juco ranks is a little, um, incorrect. Just sayin'.

Now that's some hardcore blogging by the Daily Herald's Willhite. Hat tip to you sir.

Other randomness

The Chicago Slaughter are back and so is the Huskies 3rd all-time leading scorer K Chris Nendick...Basketball times ran a lengthy but insightful look at Xavier Silas...Ron Zook blames fans for his dismal recruiting class... and finally a look at Iowa's perspective on playing MAC teams throughout the past decade

Jake Coffman highlight vid I put together. Enjoy. I think I've watched this thing 30x and it gets...

2010-02-24T16:05:10Z

Jake Coffman highlight vid I put together. Enjoy. I think I've watched this thing 30x and it gets better each time.

Huskies Land PG Kyree Jones

2010-02-22T09:46:53Z

Kyree Jones becomes Patton's 2nd recruit for the class of 2010

View full size photo »

John Sahly of the Daily Chronicle reports that Northern Illinois landed its second recruit for the class of 2010 in point guard Kyree Jones. Jones will come to DeKalb via North Carolina Tech Prep School but is originally from central Indiana. He has attended 5 different schools in the last 5 years, always a red-flag for any prospect.

Jones was once a highly ranked guard prospect who was being recruited by several high-major schools. By the end of his senior year, most of those schools were scared off by the fact that Jones bounced around from school to school and that he was known for having an attitude problem on the court. In the end, Jones passed up on scholarship offers from George Mason, Kent State, IUPUI and Texas Southern to attend prep school in North Carolina. Jones is not listed on the basketball roster that is posted on the North Carolina Tech Prep School.

For what reasons did he choose Northern Illinois over a hose of other schools?

"I try to idolize my game after Chauncey Billups," Jones said. "[Patton] was like, 'Well, I coached him (at Colorado).' I thought that's crazy. That's huge for me. I like hearing that."

Almost sounds like Jones fell right on to our laps. Funny how that works out sometimes.

How big was his legend starting to grow? Pac-10 big:

"The person I work out with in the summer is [former Indianapolis Pacer] Fred Jones," Jones said. "I talked with him [Saturday]. He's trying to get me to go to Oregon. He talked to the coach (Ernie Kent). They offered me. I told him I had already committed to Northern. He was shell shocked. I just felt like Oregon was unstable. I wasn't too worried about that at Northern."

Oregon head coach Ernie Kent is probably reaching the end of his Ducks career as the team continues to struggle for its second year in a row, but the end may also be near for coach Ricardo Patton if things in DeKalb don't turn around quickly, so I guess he decided to pick the least unstable program. And for all that hype about Patton having recruited the amazing total of 2 future NBA players while at the helm of a major conference school, hopefully it will finally pay off.

So, have we recruited a future NBA draft pick or just another problem-child who will further Patton's failure in DeKalb?

It will all depend on Patton himself. From all I was able to gather, Jones is a good high-major prospect who has a diva attitude that will hamper his chances of ever fulfilling his true potential. It will be Patton's job to teach Jones how to become a team player and to keep his attitude in check.

Even though Jones is a great shooter and scorer who is not afraid to take the tough shots when his team needs it, he has also been known to lose focus and become frustrated when things are not going his way. Once again, it will be Patton's job to try to correct that.

This kid should be able to give us a measuring stick of how well Coach Patton can develop his players. Here is a player that has the ability to be a good division I prospect on paper, but may not necessarily have the attitude. If Patton can mold Jones into a team player and help him buy into his role in this program, the Huskies may have found themselves a steal. Otherwise, we may just be another stop in Jones' traveling circus.

What's the story with Jones' constantly changing high schools?

Jones started out at Bloomington South in Bloomington, Indiana, before transferring to Julian High School on the south side of Chicago to live with his father Kevin, who was the head coach at Chicago State. During that year at Julian, Jones was considered one of the top sophomore guards in the Chicago area.

After his father was fired from Chicago State following his sophomore year, Jones moved back to Indiana to attend basketball powerhouse Lawrence North, the same high school that has produced former NBA lottery picks Greg Oden and Mike Conley, Jr. Towards the end of a disappointing season, Jones and North's legendary head coach Jack Keefer started to bump heads. After losing in the state tourney, Jones and Keefer had a meeting in which Keefer informed Jones that he was not the right fit for the program and would not be welcomed back to team for his senior year.

After finding out he would not be able to play basketball his senior year, Jones then tried to transfer to Arlington high school, which happened to be in the same sectional as Lawrence North. Lawrence North protested the transfer, which was denied by the Indiana High School Athletic Association after an investigation on the case. After being ruled ineligible to play in the state of Indiana, Jones decided to move to Houston, where his father is now a coach around the area.

More info on KyRee

ESPN Profile: 86 rating, #56 PG coming out of high school
Kyree Jones Speaks About Transfer (Mouthpiece Sports)

Picking up the pieces from a rainy Tempe

2010-02-21T21:14:02Z

Well with today's game rained out, let's take a look at how the NIU baseball fared against the #5 team in the nation this weekend:

Game 1: Northern Illinois 0, Arizona State 8 (Box)

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Northern Illinois... 000 000 000 -  0  4  0
Arizona State....... 014 200 10X -  8  9  0
-------------------------------------------

Starting pitcher LHP Chuck Lukanen had a rough go, giving up 7 hits and 7 ER in 5.2 innings. He fought hard out there, but walked 8 batters, while only striking out 4. These stats really aren't bad at all against the #5 team in the nation. The 4th inning was brutal giving up 4 runs, but should 3 of them have counted?

ASU was on the verge of only getting one run in the inning, but junior left fielder Matt Newman came through in the clutch. Newman crushed a ball down the leftfield line that the only question about it was whether it was fair or foul.

First base umpire Steve Mattingly ruled the ball fair and it was a three-run home run for Newman that caused the ejection of NIU assistant coach Steve Joslyn.

It really wouldn't have mattered, because the offense just wasn't there for the Huskies all day. 1B Dave Reynolds was 2 for 4 with no strikeouts. Not a single Huskie got an extra hit. Which makes sense considering that ASU's pitcher might be picked in the 1st round of the MLB draft.

RHP Jeremy Gonzales made his debut in the bullpen to get the last out in the 6th, while LHP Tom Barry finished the game.

Game 2: Northern Illinois 5, Arizona State 10 (Box)

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Northern Illinois... 010 031 000 -  5  6  0
Arizona State....... 201 600 01X - 10 10  3
-------------------------------------------

LHP Jake Hermsen (3.2 IP; 8 H; 9 ER; 7 BB; 3 SO) started off the game fairly strong, but had to be pulled from the game after giving up 6 runs in the 3rd. Hermsen just couldn't find control all game resulting in 7 walks and 3 wild pitches all in that 3rd inning. The JC transfer RHP Jeremy Gonzales (4.1 IP; 2 H; 1 ER; 2 BB; 5 SO) did a remarkable job in relief, allowing the Huskies to get back in this game somewhat offensively.

RF Jordin Hood (2-3; 1 BB; 1 HBP, 1 RBI; 1 R; 1 CS) did an excellent job getting on base and setting the Huskies up offensively. LF Dave Reynolds (1-3; 2 BB; 1 RBI; 1 R; 2 SO) performed well for the 2nd straight game. Again the Huskies couldn't even get a single XBH, which severely hampered their chances of scoring enough runs to make this a game. Compare and contrast with the 4 doubles that ASU had. Lineup notes: Etch played 1B while Reynolds went to LF and Brian Smith DH'd.

Game 3: Northern Illinois 1, Arizona State 26 (Box)

Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Northern Illinois... 001 000 0 -  1  5  3
Arizona State....... 299 051 X - 26 25  0
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Um, ouch? RHP Brian Smith (1.2 IP; 9 H; 11 ER; 3 BB; 0 SO) made his first start in 3 years and obviously was a little rusty. The last time he started for the Huskies, this blog didn't even exist!! LHP Tom Barry (1.1 IP; 8 H; 9 ER; 2 BB; 1 SO) didn't provide much relief. Freshman RHP Ben Etcheverry (3.0 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) made his debut and performed admirably, given the circumstances. ASU set a school record with 6 triples in this game.

The offense just wasn't there and as the blowout ensued, a lot of the younger guys got a chance to see the field. "Lil' Etch" got a hit in his only AB. Again, the Huskies failed to get an XBH in 3 out of the 3 games played which is an extremely disappointing stat. JC transfers LF Tom Kotis & C Brian Riegler each got the first hits of their careers. Riegler got the start at catcher, so I guess he's the backup?

What to take from the weekend

The Huskies managed to stay in 2 out of the 3 games and never gave up. Even though the Huskies were extremely overmatched, they kept their composure and got a lot of good innings in. There was a lot of good glove work on the defensive end, as only 2B Buonavolanto and LF Beckmann had errors in the final game, neither of which affected the scoreboard. The biggest issue on the offensive end was the fact that the Huskies didn't manage even one extra base hit in either of the three games. That has to improve if you want to win games. It's a shame that the Huskies didn't get a chance to play the 4th game today, because I thought they had a pretty good chance at coming out and battling for a victory.

Jayme Wells watch

Game 1: (0-2, 2 SO) Game 2: DNP, Game 3: (0-2, 2 SO) Started at CF.

The Huskies (0-3) will return to action next weekend with a three-game series against Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn. The games will be at 4 p.m. Friday, and 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday at Raymond C. Hand Park.

New (Huge) Preferred Walk-on

2010-02-21T06:43:07Z

Courtesy of the Daily Herald

He did see 6-foot-7 Ryan Brown, headed to Northern Illinois as a preferred football walk-on, display nice first-quarter touch around the net for 6 of his 14 points, and center Kyle Nelson scored half his 10 points in that opening quarter.

OT Ryan Brown | St. Charles North HS (St. Charles, IL)

6'7" 260 lbs

Rivals Profile: 2-stars, 5.4

Recruited by: Matt Limegrover

Notes: Older brother Patrick Brown played at UCF and signed on as a free agent with the Carolina Panthers/Patriots/Vikings last year. Seems to be a project, but a 6'7" frame leaves you a lot of leeway to build a player. Just the fact that he's a basketball player tells you something. Exactly the type of athletic lineman that Coach Kill is looking for on this football team.

Don't forget that Joe Pawlak was a former walk-on that became a full-time starter at Right Guard this past season. Can't wait to see this guy in a year or two after hitting the weight room.