Saturday’s game against Kent State marked the 2,000th game in NIU’s 101 seasons of men’s basketball. Although the team lost the game, it still holds an overall winning record of 1,024-976 in the history of the program.

WHERE LEGENDS ARE BORN

The Illinois High School Association has begun to form a list of “100 Legends” that will be presented at the boys’ state basketball tournament in 2007.

The list holds 281 names of players and coaches who participated in at least one game of the final IHSA tournament from 1908 to 2005.

Former NIU men’s basketball coach and Athletics Hall of Famer John McDougal qualified for the list in three ways – a player at Salem and a coach at Aurora West and Rockford Lutheran.

NIU men’s basketball coach Rob Judson’s father Phil Judson and uncle Paul Judson, both starters on Hebron’s 1952 state championship team, are also on the list of nominees.

Six former NIU players on the list are Kenny Battle and Matt Hick from Aurora West, Dennis Douglas from Quincy, Jim Edmondson from Hinckley-Big Rock, Mike “The Lip” Lipnisky from Rolling Meadows and center Mark Voreis from DeKalb.

FROM DOWNTOWN

NIU senior forward Todd Peterson has 202 career three pointers at NIU and needs to hit three more to break the NIU record. The record was set by assistant coach Donald Whiteside, who played for NIU from 1987-1991. Whiteside played in the NBA for the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks before returning as an assistant coach.

THE IRON MEN

Brett Favre may be the iron man of the NFL, but Todd Peterson and senior guard Anthony Maestranzi are the iron men around NIU. Neither senior has missed a game in their careers, appearing in all 103. If Maestranzi and Peterson play out the rest of the season they will break the former record of 116 career games set by T.J. Lux (1995 – 98).