When Joe "Spanky" McFarland made the decision in 1990 to accept the position as head baseball coach at NIU, he realized that making NIU a winning team would not come easily. The root of the difficulties that McFarland would face stemmed from the fact...

New NIU coach Brian Hammel will probably never have a chance to coach Mike Lipnisky, one of the most highly touted freshman basketball players to ever sign with the Huskies. That's because the 6-3 guard has decided to transfer from NIU after his first...

Although school was out, the business of sports at NIU continued. Among the most noteworthy developments include: NIU has tabbed Jeanne Fleck to become the new head women's swimming coach. Fleck comes to DeKalb after serving as an assistant men's and...

New NIU basketball coach Brian Hammel, a dedicated runner who once completed the Boston marathon, is confident he's on the right track in DeKalb. The 38-year-old Hammel served as George Raveling's top aid at USC during the last five seasons before taking...

For at least one Huskie baseball player, Thursday's season-ending doubleheader at Western Illinois (1 p.m.) will mark the end of a very short NIU career. Jeff Carnes fulfilled one year of NIU baseball and must call it quits after the twin bill. The only...

Defending their three-time North Star Conference Championship trophy will be the name of the game for the NIU softball team on Friday. The Huskies, who joined the NSC in 1988, have held the title every year since. If they can keep the streak alive this...

Providence College assistant coach Larry Shyatt arrived in DeKalb Wednesday night to begin formal interviews for the vacant NIU head-coaching job. Shyatt, along with Louisiana Tech head coach Jerry Loyd, who left DeKalb late Wednesday night after his...

There's no doubt in the mind of veteran NIU men's golf coach Jack Pheanis about the high caliber of competition teeing up Friday and Saturday at the Oak Club of Genoa. This weekend's Fifth Annual Miller Genuine Draft Midwestern Invitational features a...

Contrary to some beliefs, the power to withhold a release from a student-athlete is vested in an athletic director. Amidst the recent developments with freshman basketball player Mike Lipnisky and NIU's Athletic Director Gerald O'Dell, NCAA legislative...

If NIU were to be blackballed by the Public League, as some coaches have suggested, it would lose its main source of players in the last few years. Of the Huskies' rostered players entering this season, six players had Chicago Public League ties, including...

According to several prominent Chicago Public League coaches, NIU is going to have a hard time recruiting basketball players from their league for the foreseeable future. In the wake of published reports that named three out-of-state coaches as the finalists...

An NIU athlete's freedom apparently has been denied by Athletic Director Gerald O'Dell. Freshman standout Mike Lipnisky, a member of the men's basketball team, said he requested a "release from Grant-and-Aid" from O'Dell on Monday for transfer reasons....