Game Preview: #1 Rock Valley travels to Joliet to play the Wolves in a conference battle
Upcoming Date
Jan. 16 vs. Joliet Junior College, 3:00 PM; Joliet, IL
Probable Starters
(LT Davis, Dalton Menke, Kooper Glick, Alec Pena, Elijah Williams - RVC Athletics)
Rock Valley College (19-0, 3-0 in N4C)
PG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 17.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 9.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 12.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg
PF- Alec Pena, 6-6, Fr., Rockton, IL; 6.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 16.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 64.2% FG
Sub- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg
Sub- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 8.4 ppg, 2.5 apg
Joliet Junior College (13-5, 2-1 in N4C)
PG- Darius Wells, 5-11, So., South Elgin, IL; 11.4 ppg, 6.0 apg, 4.2 rpg
SG- Daymeann Stewart, 5-9, So., Milwaukee, WI; 15.4 ppg, 3.1 apg
SG- Kiwane Crowder, 6-3, So., Milwaukee, WI; 10.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg
SF- Robert Brooks, 6-3, Fr., Plainfield, IL; 12.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg
PF- Patrick Kenny, 6-4, Fr., Naperville, IL; 12.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg
6th – Johnny Campbell, 6-2, Fr., Lockport, IL; 6.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg
Joliet Junior College Notes
Joliet Junior College is an NJCAA DIII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in Joliet, IL… Head coach of the Wolves is Joe Kuhn… Since Craig Doty's arrival on Mulford, Rock Valley and Joliet have established a significant rivalry… The Golden Eagles beat the Wolves in both the 2013 and 2014 NJCAA DIII Region 4 Championship games… The two Rock Valley victories came by a combined score of 3 points… The Golden Eagles went 2-0 against the Wolves last season… In their last meeting on February 11th, 2015 in Joliet, IL, Rock Valley came away victorious with a 73-69 win… The Golden Eagles were hot from the 3 PT line, draining 15 shots from beyond the arc on the evening… Mo Jackson scored 18 points (6-8 3 PT) while 2014 NJCAA DIII National Player of the Year, Jared Mayes, grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds to go along with 18 points.
Rock Valley College Notes
Rock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C)… RVC is the #1 ranked team in the country at the NJCAA DIII level… The Golden Eagles have been ranked #1 for the last 17 national polls dating back to 10-27-2014... Rock Valley is currently a perfect 19-0, including a 13-0 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… In their last contest out, Rock Valley beat Madison 89-77 in Rockford, IL on Wednesday… RVC had six players in double-figure scoring led by guards Mo Jackson (Belvidere, IL) and LT Davis (Rockford, IL) with 16 points each… Elijah Williams (Chicago, IL) went 6-8 from the field as he scored 14 points… Kooper Glick (Columbus, IN) scored 12 points (4-6 FG) while Dalton Menke (Winnebago, IL) and Dalton Payton (Byron, IL) chipped in with 11 points and 10 points, respectively… Rock Valley shot 31-60 (.517) from the field, 12-30 (.400) from 3PT and 15-20 (.750) from the free throw line in the game.
NJCAA DIII Region 4/District 2 Standings
1. Rock Valley College, IL: 19-0 (1.00)
2. Milwaukee Area Technical College, WI: 14-4 (.778)
3. College of DuPage, IL: 13-4 (.765)
4. Joliet Junior College, IL: 13-5 (.722)
5. Harper College, IL: 10-9 (.526)
6. Lorain County Community College, OH: 9-9 (.500)
7. Madison College, WI: 7-10 (.412)
8. Mid Michigan College, MI: 6-9 (.400)
Tough Scheduling
The Golden Eagles play one of the most difficult schedules in the country again this season…RVC has scheduled 13 of their 16 non-conference games against NJCAA D1 and D2 opponents including 2015 NJCAA D1 national tournament teams and top 10 ranked Vincennes University (W: 78-66, Oct. 30) and Indian Hills (W: 88-86, Nov. 7), as well as the 2015 NJCAA D2 National Runner-up John Wood Community College (W: 76-51, Nov. 13), all on the road. Rock Valley will play no JV teams or prep schools. For the complete schedule along with game times click here.
Tradition
The Golden Eagles men's basketball program started as NJCAA members in 1966 under Charles Behrends. With a rich tradition, RVC has taken the men's basketball program to new heights over the past three seasons. Despite reaching the NJCAA National Tournament only one time from 1966-2012 (in 2001 under Carl Armato), the Golden Eagles have won the NJCAA Region IV tournament each of the past three seasons to make three straight trips to the national tournament in New York. The Golden Eagles have placed 7th, won the National Championship and was National Runner-up respectively, over the past three seasons. To view the year-by-year success of the Golden Eagles program click here.
(Head Coach Craig Doty - RVC Athletics)
Craig Doty is in his 4th season as the Golden Eagles' head coach. Doty has produced three of the best seasons in the 49 year history of the RVC program. Rock Valley won the Region 4 Championship in all three seasons, earning a 7th place finish at the 2013 national tournament in Doty's inaugural season followed by a 30-5 season and winning the NJCAA DIII national championship in 2014. Last season, the Golden Eagles went 31-4 overall and made a return appearance in the National Championship game finishing 2nd in the country. The 31 victories are the most in program history in a season. In 2014, Doty was named the Spalding NJCAA national coach of the year, the Gary S. Cole coach of the national tournament, the NJCAA coaches association coach of the year, and the NJCAA national all-star game coach. In all three seasons at RVC Doty earned Region 4 coach of the year, District 2 coach of the year as well as the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association coach of the year awards. Doty graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in English from Morningside College (IA) and served previous stints as an assistant at the University of Sioux Falls (NCAA Division II), Riverland Community College (NJCAA), Central Wyoming College (NJCAA) and Morningside College (NAIA). Doty served as interim head coach at Central Wyoming College in the spring of 2011 and also spent a season as the head boysbasketball coach at Akron-Westfield high school (IA).
