Men's Basketball
NJCAA basketball plays for keeps. Bring your A-game.
What's New
November 14, 2008 - Spartans' Shooting Goes Cold - Illinois Valley Community College entered the Spartan Events Center on Thursday night having played good basketball as of late. They continued that trend and went home a 74-54 winner over the Spartans. “The final score was not indicative of how this game was played,” said head coach Reed Nosbisch. “During that last 8 minutes of the game, we couldn’t buy a basket and they didn’t miss.” More»
Season Outlook
When last season ended with a loss in the first round of the playoffs to conference champion McHenry County College, Coach Nosbisch addressed his team with this challenge…get in the weight room and let’s get stronger!
While the returning players, which include this year’s captains Chris Parks and Nick Nohling (both of Burlington Central), John Placeres (Burlington Central), and Steve Bilisko (Wauconda) were working on their games, Coach Nosbisch was out recruiting. What Coach Nosbisch was able to do was lure local talent such as Gustavo Herrera and Derell Howse (Elgin), Brett Manning (St. Edward), Tom Krueger (Jacobs), Dave Bernard (Dundee-Crown), Ryan Mattes (Burlington Central), Clem Bowen (South Elgin), Chris Esterino (Larkin), and Andrew Smith (Elgin Academy).
“We really tried to hit the district high schools and recruit them hard. The opportunities here at Elgin are outstanding, both academically and athletically,” stated Coach Nosbisch.
After securing the local talent, Coach Nosbisch reached outside the district and received commitments from Daniel Polley (Joliet Township), Eddie Gray Jr. (Plainfield Central), Greg Sutton (Lake Park), Keenen Knowles (Rockford Auburn), Ryan Hayden (East Aurora), John Paden and Tarnell Davis (both of Milwaukee).
“Recruiting wise, we wanted to get guys who could get the job done defensively. That was a weakness for us last year. We got some kids who are pure athletes. We might not be very big, but the quickness is there,” said Coach Nosbisch.
The Spartans upgraded their schedule this season, adding games with Triton College, Lincoln Land College, and the prestigious Highland Community College tournament. Nosbisch said “our kids understand that if they don’t work hard, success will not follow. We upgraded the schedule to challenge ourselves. Our motto for this season will be to ask ourselves are we worthy of winning? Do we work hard enough to win?”
The Spartans open the season on November 1 at Triton College. The home opener is scheduled for November 8th against Harper College. Admission is free to all home games.
“The community is missing some really good basketball at ECC. I don’t know where else you can see a college basketball game in person for free. It would be great if we could get that Spartan Center rockin’ this winter,” said Coach Nosbisch.
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