The men’s basketball team is only in its early practice sessions, but the squad’s injuries are in midseason form.

Guard Kendall Jones had an appendectomy at the beginning of the month and has been limited to mostly ball-handling drills during practice. Coach Jim Rosborough said Jones will begin heavier workouts next week and will be ready for full action the following week.

Freshman forward Andrew Wells had a slight ankle sprain Tuesday but should be ready for practice today.

The Sporting News ranks the NIU men’s basketball team 7th among the nation’s seven major independents. Over the summer, the magazine ranked the Huskie football team 23rd out of the 24 major independents in football ahead of only Akron. The football team has responded with a 3-3-1 start.

TSN’s comment on the NIU basketball team: “The Huskies’ battle for respectability would have been easier if flashy Battle hadn’t transferred to greener grass (Illinois).”

At the basketball team’s Media Day, Jim Rosborough said he has been thinking about pursuing the formation of a Midwest conference of which NIU could be a member.

He admitted the conference is only an idea, but said it would make sense economically, build fan support and revive local rivalries. He said Loyola, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois State and Southern Illinois are just a few of the teams who he thought might be interested in such a conference.

Cathy Holmes was named the North Star Conference’s Athlete of the Week. The 6-foot-1 middle hitter is the first NIU athlete to be honored with the award since the Huskies began competing in the conference this fall.

In a match against Eastern Michigan, Holmes had a match-best .388 hitting percentage. She tallied eight kills with one error in 18 attempts as NIU lost 10-15, 15-10, 15-4, 15-8.

The Huskie football team still ranks among the nation’s leaders in a number of departments. NIU ranks fifth in team punt returns, with 14.3 yards per return, eighth in team rushing with 293.9 yards per game, 22nd in total offense with 402.3 ypg and 23rd in scoring with 29.1 points per game.

Individually, Rodney Taylor is seventh in the nation in punt returns with 14.3 ypr and John Ivanic is 11th in in field goals with 1.7 per game and 21st in scoring with 7.7 points per game.

Former NIU football assistant, Lawrence Cooley will be on the opposing sidelines this weekend when NIU takes on Ball State. Cooley was at NIU from 1984-1986.