Graduating next month is a bummer for so many reasons.

One: There won’t be any more days of waking up at noon and stumbling to class. Two: The real world will be front and center in my face.

The biggest reason why I don’t want to graduate, though, is the fact that I won’t get a chance to see men’s basketball head coach Mark Montgomery‘s 2011 recruiting class in action.

During my five years in DeKalb, no hoops recruiting class has inspired as much optimism as this year’s. As excited as the area was when Ricardo Patton was hired to lead the Huskies, he never came through on his promise to recruit Chicago. In fact, the former coach alienated himself from AAU and public league coaches inside the basketball hotbed.

Which is why when Montgomery preached how NIU is a “sleeping giant” because of its proximity to Chicago, a lot of people understandably rolled their eyes at the newbie’s assertion. Little over a month after being hired, though, Montgomery is coming through.

Two weeks ago, word got out that twins Keith and Kevin Gray of the Chicago Public League’s Brooks Academy would be coming to NIU. By most accounts, the 6’7″ forwards are just scratching the surface of their potential. Joe Henricksen of City/Suburban Hoops Report told me that Keith, in particular, could very well become a force in the MAC in the near future.

Less than a week later, I received a text message from an unknown number that read “6’2″ combo guard Marquavis Ford of Saginaw (MI) has just signed a letter of intent to play for NIU.” I called the number only to be greeted by the voice of recently-resigned Saginaw head coach Lou Dawkins. The coach quickly informed me that he had just accepted an offer to be an assistant to Montgomery. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of the hire; Dawkins was reportedly being pursued by Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo to replace Montgomery.

At this point, I was ready to call the class a success. What with the Gray twins, Ford, and Patton-signed recruits Zach Miller (Glenbard East) and DeAndre Barnette (Liberty Tech (Tenn.)). Montgomery wasn’t ready to call it quits, though.

Over the weekend, multiple outlets reported that 6’6″ swingman Dre Henley of De La Salle Institute had committed to NIU. Most consider Henley to be the best in-state recruit that NIU has landed in years.

Still with some energy to burn, Montgomery was reportedly interested in Evanston forward James Farr. The 6’8″ forward committed to Xavier April 26, but just the fact that NIU was in the running for an Xavier prospect is huge.

Now, how am I supposed to go into the real world knowing that I’m leaving behind a basketball team that is about to explode all over the MAC? Just to enjoy the good vibrations that “Marky” Mark Montgomery is bringing to DeKalb, I might grow a beard and become a grad student.