Rock Valley College Athletics

Game Preview: #1 Rock Valley College looks to go to 27-3 as they host Wright College on sophomore night

2/20/2016 12:14:00 PM

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Upcoming Date
Feb 20 vs. Wilbur Wright College, 3:00 PM; Rockford, IL

Probable Sophomore Day Starters

Rock Valley College (26-3, 10-3 in N4C)
PG- Mo Jackson, 5-10, So., Belvidere, IL; 7.6 ppg, 2.7 apg
SG- Carl Terrell, 5-11, So., Joliet, IL; 1.7 ppg, 75% FT
SF- Dalton Payton, 6-6, So., Byron, IL; 9.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg
PF- Caleb Skoog, 6-6, So., Milledgeville, IL; 0.9 ppg, 0.6 rpg
C- Sam Harrison, 6-8, So., Prior Lake, MN; 1.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg
Sub- LT Davis, 5-11, So., Rockford, IL; 18.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg
Sub- Elijah Williams, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 16.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 66.1% FG
Sub- Jontrell Robinson, 6-5, So., Rockford, IL; 1.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg

Wilbur Wright College (2-26, 1-12 in N4C)
PG- Antonio Allison, 5-10, Fr., Chicago, IL; 14.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.6 apg
SG- Ricky Watson, 6-0, Fr., Grosse Pointe Woods, MI; 11.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg
SF- Ryan Cook, 6-5, Fr., Manchester, England; 4.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg
PF- Jelani Ward, 6-6, Fr., Chicago, IL; 10.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg
C- Darryl Nellum, 6-7, So., Chicago, IL; 9.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg
6th – Demetrice Adams, 6-1, Fr., Chicago, IL; 5.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg

Wilbur Wright College Notes
Wilbur Wright College is an NJCAA DII member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) located in Chicago, IL… Head coach of the Rams is Michael Harris… Rock Valley is a perfect 7-0 overall during the Craig Doty eraagainst Wright… In those 7 games, the Golden Eagles have won by an average margin of victory of 27.3 points per game… In their last meeting, Rock Valley dismantled Wright 99-65 on January 27, 2016 in Chicago, IL… LT Davis (Rockford, IL) led the charge scoring 23 points on 7-12 from the field in 26 minutes of play… Elijah Williams (Chicago, IL) scored 19 points (8-9 FG)… Kooper Glick (Columbus, IN) scored 16 points while Dalton Payton (Byron, IL) filled up the box score with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists on the night… Jace Kitchen (DeKalb, IL) scored 11 points on 4-5 from the field while Mo Jackson (Belvidere) chipped in with 10 points and had a game-high 5 assists to go along with 0 turnovers… The Golden Eagles held a 40-25 rebounding advantage and held Wright College to 40% shooting in the first half allowing them to build a 52-24 halftime advantage… RVC shot 33-62 (.532) from the field including 10-21 (.476) from behind the 3-point line… The Golden Eagles had 22 assisted baskets and forced 20 Wright turnovers.

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 21 national polls dating back to 10-27-2014... Rock Valley is currently 26-3, including a 14-2 mark against NJCAA DI and NJCAA DII schools… In their last contest out, Rock Valley defeated College of Dupage 80-61 in Rockford, IL… Four Golden Eagles scored 70 of Rock Valley's 80 points led by Kooper Glick (Columbus, IN) and LT Davis (Rockford, IL) with 20 points each… Glick added 8 rebounds… Elijah Williams (Chicago, IL) scored 19 points and ripped down a game-high 12 rebounds… Dalton Menke (Winnebago, IL) chipped in with 11 points.

NJCAA DIII National Rankings
The Golden Eagles have been ranked #1 in the country for an unprecedented 22 straight NJCAA National Polls dating back to October 27th, 2014.  Here is the national poll released on Wednesday, February 17th, 2016. Note: Below team records are reflected from last Sunday when poll submissions were made.
 

Rank							College (1st Place Votes)	State	Record	Points	Prev
1	Rock Valley (5)	IL	25-3	76	1
2	Davidson County (3)	NC	25-2	75	2
3	Rochester	MN	23-2	65	3
4	Vermilion	MN	23-2	56	4
5	Central Lakes	MN	23-2	43	6
6	Herkimer	NY	22-3	37	7
7	Nassau	NY	21-5	29	9
8	Sullivan County	NY	22-5	21	5
9	Milwaukee Area Tech	WI	21-6	18	10
10	Eastfield	TX	20-6	13	RV

Others Receiving Votes
 

							College	State	Record	Points	Prev
	Bronx	NY	20-6	3.0	8
	Philadelphia	PA	20-5	3.0	NR
	Joliet	IL	20-8	1.0	RV

NJCAA DIII Region 4/District 2 Standings
1. Rock Valley College, IL: 26-3 (.897)
2. Milwaukee Area Technical College, WI: 22-6 (.786)
3. Joliet Junior College, IL: 21-8 (.724)
4. College of DuPage, IL: 17-10 (.630)
5. Mid Michigan College, MI: 14-10 (.583)
6. Lorain County Community College, OH: 12-17 (.414)
7. Madison College, WI: 10-17 (.370)
8. Harper College, IL: 10-19 (.345)
 
Individual and Team Stats
*Note: The NJCAA DIII level is represented by approximately 120 men's basketball programs from Texas to Minnesota, from Illinois to New York and throughout the United States.
-The Golden Eagles are led by LT Davis who is averaging 18.0PPG.  LT ranks 4th in the country in 3PT field goals made with 100. LT has scored a total of 523 points this year which is 17thbest in the country… LT Davis redshirted last season after being named MVP of the 2014 NJCAA DIII National Tournament.  In the 2013-14 season Davis averaged 15.5 points per game, second on the team to Jared Mayes who averaged 19.0 PPG that season and earned National Player of the Year.
-Elijah Williams is second in scoring (16.3 PPG) and leads RVC in rebounding (7.7 RPG) this season. Williams is 3rd in thecountry in FG% shooting 168-254 for an impressive 66.1%.
-Kooper Glick is the third leading scorer for the Golden Eagles scoring 12.4 PPG.  Glick's free throw percentage of 82.9% ranks him 22nd nationally
-As a team, Rock Valley currently ranks 4th in 3PT made per game (10.6).  Last season the Golden Eagles ranked 6th at 9.2 3PTM per game.  In 2013-14 RVC finished 1st in the nation hitting 10.0 3PT shots per game. In Doty's first season, RVC ranked 2nd in the country at 9.2 3PTM per contest.
-The Golden Eagles are currently hitting a sizzling 73.5% of their free throws which ranks them 6th in the nation
-Over the past three seasons the Golden Eagles have been ranked in the top 20 for assists per game.  This year RVC comes in at #18 (17.8 APG), in 2014-15 the Golden Eagles finished #7 in assists per game at 17.9 while in 2013-14, RVC handed out 17.8 assists per contest, good for 19th nationally.
 
Tough Scheduling
The Golden Eagles play one of the most difficult schedules in the country again this season…RVC 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 played no JV teams or prep schools. The Golden Eagles went a perfect 16-0 in their non-conference schedule...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.
 

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).