In what is usually a time for tranquility throughout the world of college sports, the summer of ‘03 marked a hectic time with some good, some bad and some we’d all like to forget.

Here’s a taste of what you missed if you haven’t been keeping pace with the Huskies over the past couple months.

O lineman dies in collapse

Front page news throughout the the nation was the Chicago Porch Collapse, which killed 13 people. What you may or may not have known was that one of those victims was a student at NIU.

Shea Fitzgerald, a redshirt sophomore football player, was apparently sandwiched between the fallen porch floors that caved in to the basement at his brother’s apartment on Chicago’s North Side.

A 6-foot-8, 283-pound projected starter on the offensive line, Fitzgerald was there with two teammates, Pat Raleigh and Brad Cieslak.

"I didn’t see it happen," said Cieslak. "Me and Pat had just walked inside [from the porch], and we took about 10 steps inside and it sounded like a 300-foot tree had fallen. We saw the floor was collapsed down to the basement - it was gone in almost the blink of an eye."

NIU preseason No. 1

With 24 first-place votes, the Huskie football team topped the MAC News Media Associations list ahead of even the East’s Marshall and Miami-Ohio.

With 13 starters coming back from an 8-4 season and share of the MAC West crown, high hopes await this year’s squad.

Huskies to pro ranks

NIU football’s Tim Vincent was signed by the Chicago Bears and baseball’s Joe Mazzuca was picked up by the Florida Marlins.

On May 7, Vincent, a life-long Bears fan, signed a standard free-agent contract. The 6-foot-6, 290-pound offensive tackle is still listed on the Bears roster as cuts are being made every week.

A shortstop, Mazzuca was selected with the 353rd pick on the June 3 Major League Baseball Draft.

Mazzuca took his signing bonus into Jamestown, N.Y., where he’s with the single A Jamestown Jammers until Sept. 3.

Hammock to Wisconsin

Former NIU All-MAC running back Thomas Hammock will stay with football despite his playing career cut short because of a heart condition.

Hammock, a two-time 1,000 yard rusher, will be a graduate assistant for head coach Barry Alvarez and the University of Wisconsin this season.

Hammock was after his third consecutive year of being both an Academic All-American and All-MAC before feeling chest pains after NIU’s first game against Wake Forest in 2002. Hammock rushed for 176 yards in that one game.

Mr. Basketball to NIU

South Dakota’s top player, Paige Paulsen, signed with the NIU basketball team.

The 6-foot-7 power forward originally signed with Lamar. Then head coach Mike Dean left and Paulsen asked to be let out of his binding letter of intent.

That is where coach Rob Judson and the Huskies stepped in and offered a scholarship to Paulsen, who averaged 25.5 points, 11 rebounds and five assists his senior year, to which he was awarded with the Mr. Basketball award for South Dakota. As a junior, Paulsen led his team to a state title.

Tennis coach to Marquette

After coaching the NIU men’s tennis team for the past four years, Steven Rodecap took an offer to coach at Marquette.

A graduate of the MAC’s Ball State in 1996, Rodecap helped the Huskies to a 16-10 record and a runner-up finish at the MAC Tournament last year.

A replacement has not yet been named.

Bates hopes for CBA career

The NIU basketball team’s point guard from last year, Jay Bates, worked out for the Rockford Lightning CBA team over the summer.

Bates, who has used up all of his NCAA eligibility, is still a student at NIU working on his degree.

He has yet to hear from the Lightning, who will play four home games at NIU ‘s Convocation Center this year, about his prospects of making the team.

Baseball and softball end

NIU baseball coach Ed Mathey led the Huskies to a school-record 34 wins (34-24) in his first year with the team. The Huskies qualified for the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2000, where they upset top-seeded Kent State in the first round.

The NIU softball team finished with a 23-20-1 record. The Huskies lost to a lower seeded Bowling Green team in the opening round of the MAC Tournament, then fell again to Miami-Ohio.

Raymond van Wasbeek further validated his selection to the 2000-01 All-Mid-American Conference First-Team this weekend as the NIU men's tennis team competed in the ITA Midwest Region IV Championships.

Van Wasbeek advanced the furthest of any Huskie as he won his first two matches in the singles flight. His run ended after a 6-2, 6-1 to Matt Lockin of the University of Michigan.

"Raymond won the matches he should win and that's good," said coach Steven Rodecap. "It was a bit disappointing that he couldn't go any farther, however. The draw really opened up if he could have made it past that round."

Like the previous year, van Wasbeek and Aaron Forsberg hooked up in doubles and were victorious in a first-round match, this time against a duo from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

They weren't as successful in the second round, as they fell to the second-seeded pair of Mike Costa and Nathan Zeder from the University of Illinois.

"We played pretty well in the first round and took care of them pretty easily," said Forsberg. "In the second round we ran into some tougher competition."

Also victorious for the Huskies was Erick Martinez, who emerged on top after a three-set match against fellow MAC competitor Pete Baghadati. But that was as far as Martinez advanced when he ran into fourth-seed Phil Stoldt of Illinois in the second round and lost 6-1, 6-1.

Juan Pablo Barriga had a short tournament; he suffered a hard-fought 6-7, 4-6 loss to Josh Axler of Northwestern.

"It's nice to get some matches in against upper echelon competition, but we just need to get better to win those battles," said Rodecap. "It did give us a chance to find out what we need to work on in preparing for the spring season in January."

Spring season is more than two months away, and the Huskies won't take the court again until Jan. 19 when they begin a trio of games against the Big Ten as they visit Northwestern.

"Hopefully we can get some good match play under our belts and build up some confidence for the MAC tournament," said Forsberg.