Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: #1 Rock Valley College takes 16-0 record into conference opener on Wednesday

1/6/2016 11:10:00 AM

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Upcoming Date
Jan. 6 vs. Harper College, 7:00 PM; Palatine, IL

Probable Starters
Rock Valley College (16-0)
PG- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 17.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg
SG- Dalton Menke, 6-3, Fr., Winnebago, IL; 8.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg
SF- Kooper Glick, 6-3, Fr., Columbus, IN; 13.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg
PF- Alec Pena, 6-6, Fr., Rockton, IL; 5.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg
C- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 16.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 62.1% FG
Sub- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg
Sub- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 8.3 ppg, 2.5 apg
 
Harper College (9-7)
G- Marcus Gatlin, 5-9, So., Chicago, IL; 16.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 5.7 apg
G- Allias Burnett, 6-3, So., Joliet, IL; 19.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg
G/F- Abdul Mushtag, 6-2, So., Wheeling, IL; 5.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G/F- Connor Elzerman, 6-3, Fr., Oxford, MI; 13.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg
F- Marcus Dover, 6-3, Fr., Hoffman Estates, IL; 5.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg
6th – Daniel Hadler, 6-3, Fr., Elk Grove Village, IL; 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

Harper College Notes
Harper is an NJCAA DIII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in Palatine, IL… Head coach of the Hawks in his second year with the program is Justin Welke… In their last contest out (1/4/16), Harper was victorious 89-82 over Elgin Community College… Rock Valley is 4-2 overall versus Harper during the Craig Doty era… The Golden Eagles swept the Hawks in their two games last season… In their last meeting on January 31st, 2015 in Palatine, IL, Rock Valley came away with an 82-52 win… The Golden Eagles were led by former Boylan standout, Ben Grygiel (16 points, 10 rebounds), and former Jefferson standout, Jared Mayes (16 points)… Rock Valley dominated rebounding battle, 41-27, and forced 24 Harper turnovers.

Rock Valley College Notes
Rock Valley is an NJCAA Division III member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C)… In the NJCAA Division III National Poll released on Tuesday the Golden Eagles earned the top spot with a #1 ranking nationally… The Golden Eagles are a perfect 16-0, including a 13-0 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… RVC is coming off a 72-60 victory at Waubonsee Community College on December 17th, 2015 to finish the non-conference season… The Golden Eagles were paced by LT Davis and Kooper Glick, each scoring 15 points… Glick also led Rock Valley in rebounds (8)… Despite struggling from the field, the Golden Eagles managed to shoot 23-25 (92.0%) from the free throw line for the game… Wednesday's match-up marks the conference opener for both teams.

NJCAA DIII Region 4/District 2 Standings
1. Rock Valley College (IL): 16-0
2. Milwaukee Area Technical College (WI): 13-2
3. College of DuPage (IL): 11-3
4. Joliet Junior College (IL): 11-4
5. Lorain County Community College (OH): 9-5
6. Harper College (IL): 9-7
7. Madison College (WI): 5-8
8. Mid Michigan College (MI): 5-9

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 boys basketball coach at Akron-Westfield high school (IA).