Judson men have a common goal: A trip to nationals

Two years ago, Judson University men's basketball coach Jim Cook would agree, the Eagles may have had more talent than they do this season.

Judson did finish that 2005-06 campaign 20-12 and it played for the CCAC tournament championship, falling one win short of the program's first NAIA National Tournament appearance. That team also suffered through the loss of three starters to academic ineligibility.

"That kind of threw a wrench in things," said now-senior Justen Boyd of Batavia, one of five seniors on the Eagles' roster.

Now, with the core of that group playing their final season for the Eagles, the sky appears to be the limit. Judson took a program record 7-game winning streak into Thursday night's test at Cardinal Stritch in Milwaukee, a team the Eagles beat 83-75 earlier in the season.

"It's been about leadership this season," said Judson coach Jim Cook, who will step away from the men's program after this season but remain head coach of the Judson women's team (he's been head coach of both teams for the past three years).

"The core of this group is experienced. They have the same goals and everybody's on the same page. They all believe in each other and it doesn't matter who is on the floor, they all communicate."

Boyd, who is 12th on the Judson all-time scoring list with just under 1,300 career points and is the program's second all-time assists man, says a slow start to the season didn't rattle the Eagles, who were 5-5 on Dec. 19 and have come back to win 9 of their last 10 games.

"At the beginning of the year there were some new faces and it was a little different," said Boyd, a two-time all-CCAC first-teamer who was the NCCAA National Player of the Week Jan. 22 and who averages 11.4 points per game and just under 5 assists.

"We knew we had a lot of weapons, we just didn't know what to do with them all. Now we're hitting our mid-season stride and taking advantage of our abilities. It's a chemistry thing and we're realizing now how good we can be."

Senior Chris Oates of Streamwood, who generally comes off the bench but is the third leading scorer and rebounder on the team at 12.8 and 5.3 per game respectively, says the familiarity the Eagles have with each other is a big reason for their success this season.

"We really know what each other is doing on the court," said Oates, who will marry Streamwood and Judson grad Angie Stallone on June 14. "We're passing to each other and we're looking to make that extra pass and looking for good shots."

The Eagles haven't lacked for scoring this season. They lead the CCAC with an 86.9 per game average. In addition to Boyd and Oates (who is approaching 1,000 career points), the team is led in scoring average by junior DeWayne Robinson (21.4 ppg) and also features senior Ilija Bojanic (13.9) and senior Stefan Williams (11.4) in double figures. Senior Joe Gonnam, who is also closing in on 1,000 career points, averages 8 per game while junior Andrew Ream of Hampshire also contributes 3.3 points a night.

"We have a lot of experience," said Oates. "Me and Justen and Joe have been together for four years now. This has been the best four years of my life. Hopefully we can win conference and go to nationals. That would really be nice to finish my senior year that way."

Cook says it's all been a process of growing up.

"When those guys were sophomores we might have had more talent," he said. "These guys are the same guys, they're just more mature and they're better basketball players."

Cook has no reservations about leaving the men's program, and since he's staying on as women's coach he won't be far away. His current associate head coach, Tony Tompkins, will take over the men's program next season.

"I just want the kids to be successful and end on a good note and know the program is left in good shape," Cook said. "It's all about the kids and them being able to make a statement that they were on a team that won the conference and went to nationals.

"Tony and I are good friends and we'll be traveling together so I'll be there for him as a fan. Having (assistant women's coach) Tom Kendall and Tony around has made things a lot easier."

The Eagles' goal, obviously, is to win the CCAC regular-season title first. There are four more league games after Thursday's in Milwaukee, and then the conference tournament. It's the conference tournament champion that gets the CCAC's automatic bid to NAIA nationals. Judson hasn't won a conference title in men's basketball since 1990 when the school was a member of the Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference and there was no automatic bid to nationals.

"Our goal is to win every game and go to nationals. That's what we're trying to achieve," said Boyd, who was the CCAC Freshman of the Year and could finish his career in the top 5 for career games played at Judson.

"I found my purpose at Judson through academics and basketball. I've got a chip on my shoulder about going to nationals and I want to do whatever I can to help the team achieve our goals."

And if all goes as it has for the Eagles the past few weeks, that elusive first-ever trip to nationals could become a reality.