After making a name in NCAA baseball, Brett Muhlhan now has his sights set on NIU intramurals.

Formerly a collegiate ballplayer at Mississippi State and North Carolina-Asheville, the current NIU graduate assistant will compete for his third intramural title over the next two weeks in the playoffs for the highly competitive division of flag football.

After growing up in Orlando, Fla., Muhlhan caught in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. twice for Mississippi State, tying for fifth place in 1997 and ‘98.

After transferring to North Carolina Asheville, Muhlhan took his chances in professional baseball.

“I had a couple of free agent tryouts, but never got to play pro ball,” he said. “But baseball was a good experience for me. I learned a lot, such as time management and how to balance athletics and academics.”

Now a second-year intramural competitor at NIU, Muhlhan has already racked up two intramural titles in softball.

Muhlhan will lead his undefeated team “Grads” through the highly competitive playoffs at NIU’s intramural fields and Huskie Stadium.

“We have a very smart team, maybe because we are a little older,” Muhlhan said. “I think that is what makes us successful.”

The Grads were supposed to play Monday night, but all play was postponed because of the weather.

“We’ve been looking forward to this since the beginning of the season, but we’ll be ready to go anytime,” said Ryan Usalis, sophomore accounting major and Grads member.

Makeup dates will be determined today. For information on make-up dates and times, teams can call (815)753-0231.

The highly competitive division still has 13 teams remaining.

Muhlhan, whose team is made up of six graduate students and three others, began his time at NIU last year as a graduate student in the sport management program.

In the three semesters since he began at NIU, Muhlhan has played flag football, softball and basketball.

“Honestly, intramurals [at North Carolina] were a lot bigger,” Muhlhan said. “Probably because the Greek system is bigger there and more students live on campus.

“Competition here is very competitive, though,” he said. “It depends on the level you are in, but the good teams here are just as good as teams down there.”

If he could change anything about flag football, Muhlhan said he would extend the season from three to five games and have the four division champions play each other at the end of the playoffs.

“It would make for a true champion,” he said.

5X5 basketball

sign-ups

Date: Nov. 9-10

Place: Rec Lobby

Time: 2-8 p.m.

Cost: $35