December 11, 2003

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Game Day Quick Facts:
Game Time: 6 p.m. CST

Television: None

Radio: The Huskie Sports Radio Network will be on the air for Northern Illinois’ Dec. 13 contest at Marshall. Bill Baker handles the play-by-play duties, with Sid Simmons providing color commentary. Stations covering this weekend’s game include: WLBK-AM 1360 - DeKalb; WBIG-AM 1280 - Chicagoland; WAUR-AM 930 - Chicagoland; WRHL-AM 1060 - Rochelle; WSEY-FM 95.7 - Rockford, Freeport; WMKB-FM 102.9 - LaSalle-Peru.

Tickets: Contact the Marshall University ticket office at 1-800-843-4373.

Coaches: Rob Judson (Illinois ’80) is 32-32 in his third season at Northern Illinois. Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa (Gettysburg College ’81) is 2-3 in his first season at Marshall. Jirsa is in his third season as a head coach overall, and has a 37-33 career coaching ledger.

Officials: Will be announced on game day.

Today’s Game
Northern Illinois is looking to stop a few streaks tonight at Marshall ... The Huskies have lost six straight games to the Thundering Herd and haven’t won in Huntington, WV, since Nov. 17, 1998 (70-67) ... NIU will be looking for its first win in a Mid-American Conference opener since Jan. 4, 1984, when they defeated Central Michigan 74-67 in overtime ... The last time NIU won a MAC-opener on the road was Dec. 10, 1977, when they won at Ohio 80-76 ... The last time NIU won a conference-opener was Jan. 4, 1996, when they defeated Loyola 65-62 in overtime to open the Horizon League season ... While the Huskies haven’t had much success on the road in openers, the have enjoyed MAC road success under Rob Judson ... During his tenure, the Huskies are 11-8 in MAC road games and were an impressive 7-2 on opposing-MAC courts last season ... Marcus Smallwood ranks first in the MAC and third nationally in rebounding average, with 12.4 rebounds a game ... Smallwood also ranked 40th nationally in blocked shots with 11, behind redshirt freshman James Hughes who is 29th in the Division I ranks with 14 ... Among freshmen, Hughes is fourth in blocked shots ... Anthony Maestranzi has dished out 25 assists this season, nearly half of the 51 dimes he had all of last year.

The Series vs. Marshall
Marshall holds a 9-4 series lead over the Huskies ... The Thundering Herd has won the last-six meetings between the two clubs dating back to Feb. 2, 2000 ... Northern Illinois is 1-6 all-time at Marshall, with its lone win coming Jan. 8, 1998, via a 69-68 score ... Marshall won last season’s only confrontation 73-57 in DeKalb ... In the MAC opener for both schools, the Thundering Herd outscored the Huskies by 16 in the final 20 minutes ... Mike Morrison led the Huskies with 17 points, while Ronald Blackshear paced the Herd with 21.

About Marshall
Marshall enters Mid-American Conference play with a 2-3 record ... The Thundering Herd will be coming off a seven-day break after playing three games in a span of seven days ... The Herd went 1-2 during that stretch, with a 79-77 win at Radford serving as its lone win ... Marshall opened the three-game run with an 89-76 loss coming against Kentucky ... Ronny Dawn led the Herd against the Wildcats, scoring 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from three-point land ... Marvin Black added 16 ... Black and Dawn lead Marshall in scoring with 12.8 points per game ... Black is the Herd’s top rebounder with 7.2 boards a contest ... This will be Marshall’s first home game since an 85-71 win over Morehead State on Nov. 29.

About Head Coach Rob Judson
Rob Judson is in his third season at the helm of the Northern Illinois men’s basketball program and owns a career record of 32-32 ... With the 32 wins in just over two seasons, the Huskies are quickly approaching the 34 victories they attained during the four seasons before Judson’s arrival ... Judson’s 32 victories place him 11th all-time on the NIU coaching wins list, three behind Gilman Hertz (1950-54) who racked up a 35-44 record ... Judson accumulated a 29-30 record through his first-two seasons at NIU ... Only Jim Molinari won more games in his first-two seasons at NIU against intercollegiate opponents ... With Judson as an assistant coach, Molinari’s Huskies went 42-17 in 1989-91, his lone two seasons as head coach ... Roland Cowell also won 29 games against intercollegiate competition from 1926-28, his first two seasons at NIU ... The Huskies have performed well on the road during the Judson era ... After going 5-9 on the road in his first season (2001-02), the Huskies went 8-6 on foreign courts last year including a stretch of seven consecutive road wins in the MAC from Jan. 8 to Feb. 15 ... After taking over a program that won only five games the year before his arrival, Judson’s teams have enjoyed immediate success, winning 12 games in his first season and 17 last year ... Judson’s squad has also fared well in the Mid-American Conference, going 19-17 over his tenure ... Among active coaches, only Charlie Coles of Miami-Ohio (22-14) and Tim Buckley of Ball State (23-13) have won more MAC games than Judson in their first two seasons.

Huskie Quick Takes
Marcus Smallwood was named MVP of the Iowa Hawkeye-Gazette Challenge after averaging 16 points and 9.5 rebounds during the two-game tournament ... The last time a non-Iowa player won MVP honors of the Hawkeye-Gazette Challenge, was in 1990 when Bob Harstad of Creighton won the award ... Smallwood ranks third nationally in rebounding with 12.4 boards per game ... The Elgin, IL, native is just .03 rpg. behind the national leaders, Andrew Bogut of Utah and Jaime Lloreda of LSU ... The MAC’s top shot blocker, redshirt freshman James Hughes, is ranked 29th nationally with 2.8 rejections per game ... Hughes also ranks fourth nationally in blocked shots among freshmen ... Smallwood is ranked 40th nationally in blocks per game (2.4), while the Huskies rank 24th as a team (6.0) in the same category ... While Iowa did break the 40-percent mark (.419) in field goal percentage against the Huskies, Northern Illinois still ranks 12th nationally in field goal-percentage defense allowing opponents to shoot only .360 from the field ... NIU is also excellent defending the arc, holding opponents to .286 percent shooting (26-of-91) from three-point land this season ... The Huskies could have a pair of 1,000-point scorers as the season progresses ... Smallwood has scored 977 career points and could crack 1,000 this weekend at Marshall with an outstanding game ... P.J. Smith has already topped 1,000 points for his career and will now be looking for 1,000 career points in an NIU uniform ... Smith has scored 1,078 points, but 264 of those tallies came in an Illinois State Redbird uniform during his freshman season ... Smith needs 169 points to top 1,000 for his NIU career ... Smallwood and Smith would become just the 23rd and 24th players in NIU history to top the 1,000-point plateau for a career ... The last set of NIU teammates to top 1,000 career points were Leon Rodgers (1998-2002) and Mike Brown (1997-2001) ... The last set of teammates to eclipse 1,000 points in the same season were Billy Harris (1,331) and Jim Bradley (1,134) in 1972-73 ... At 6’11”, the redshirt freshman Hughes is the tallest Huskie hooper since 7’1” Steve Oldendorf (1990-94) patrolled the paint.

Nearing 1,000 Wins
Northern Illinois is quickly approaching the 1,000-win plateau with its three early season victories ... The Huskies currently have a 997-935 overall record and could reach 1,000 wins when the team is in Hawaii for the Surf N’ Slam Invitational on Dec. 19-22 ... Other milestone wins for NIU include its 500th on Feb. 29, 1964, vs. Wheaton College (83-67) and its 900th win vs. Illinois-Chicago (95-60) in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament on March 3, 1996.

Smallwood Nearing 1,000 points
Marcus Smallwood continues to work his way ever-so-close to 1,000 career points after the 32 tallies he turned in during the two-game Hawkeye-Gazette Challenge ... Smallwood now has 977 career points and is just 23 points shy of becoming the 23rd player in NIU history to score 1,000 points for his career.

Huskies In The NCAA Rankings
Although the Huskies did receive a vote in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, we are talking about statistical rankings, where both Marcus Smallwood and James Hughes debuted in the NCAA’s season-opening statistical charts ... Smallwood is ranked third nationally and tops in the MAC with 12.4 rebounds a game ... He is also ranked 40th in blocks with 2.4 per game ... James Hughes ranks 29th nationally and fourth among freshmen with 2.8 swats per game, while NIU ranks 24th as a team in blocked shots per game with 6.0 bpg ... Perhaps the most impressive statistic for the Huskies is their field goal percentage defense of .360 percent, which ranks 12th in the NCAA Division I ranks.

Can You Spare A Dime?
Anthony Maestranzi can as he is averaging 5.0 assists per game this season, tops on the team and third in the MAC ... In his last four outings, the Bartlett, IL, native is averaging 5.75 assists per contest including a career high seven dimes in the Nov. 26 win over Illinois State ... Maestranzi’s 25 assists this season is nearly half of the 51 he had all of last season when he ranked third on the team ... A final assist anomaly came during NIU’s 65-57 loss at Iowa ... The Huskies had an 85 percent field goal : assist ratio during the contest as 17-of-20 baskets were credited with an assist ... While Maestranzi handed out a game high six assists, sophomore Rome Sanders dished out a career five.

MAC’s Big Poppa
Marcus “Smalls” Smallwood earned Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honors for the week of Dec. 1 after averaging 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks against No. 20 Notre Dame (Nov. 24) and Illinois State (Nov. 26) ... The 6-foot-6, 215 pound forward opened the week with a 21-point, 18-rebound performance at No. 20 Notre Dame in a 74-65 Fighting Irish win ... Despite facing a frontline that averaged 6-foot-10, 252 pounds, Smallwood was the one standing tall, as he registered season highs in both categories to lead the Huskies ... The senior also added two blocks and a steal against the Irish ... The preseason MAC Player of the Year returned to the court two days later (Nov. 26), to stifle Illinois State’s offensive attack, as he rejected five shots and grabbed a game high nine rebounds ... Although he did score 16 points, it was Smallwood’s effort on the defensive end that paced the Huskies to a 66-55 victory ... During a first half in which the senior got four of his five blocks, the Huskies allowed the Redbirds just 12 points on 4-of-26 shooting (.154 percent) from the floor.

Hughes Playing Huge
Redshirt freshman James Hughes has had an immediate impact for the Huskies in his rookie season after sitting out the 2002-03 campaign to work on his strength ... After putting on 25 pounds and increasing his stamina, Hughes has burst onto the scene, working his way into the starting lineup just three games into the 2003-04 season ... The Silvis, IL, native has made an immediate impact on the defensive end of the floor, averaging 2.8 blocks per game, which leads the MAC and ranks 29th nationally ... Hughes also ranks fourth nationally among freshman in blocked shots ... Hughes made his collegiate debut in emphatic fashion, blocking an NIU freshman record six shots in the season-opener against Eastern Illinois ... Against Illinois State (Nov. 26), Hughes made his first career start and flourished with career highs in points (11), field goals (4), free throws made (3) and rebounds (6) ... Hughes also played a career high 22 minutes ... In a 54-53 win over rival Illinois-Chicago, Hughes was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor, scoring nine points, grabbing six boards and blocking two shots.

Chairman Of The Boards
Is there a better 6-foot-6 rebounder in the country? ... In a word, No! ... Senior forward Marcus Smallwood has been a machine on the glass this season, averaging 12.4 rebounds a game including 17 in the season-opener vs. Eastern Illinois and 18 more at No. 20 Notre Dame ... Smallwood currently ranks third nationally in rebounding and is one of only three players, 6-foot-6 and under, to average double figures on the glass ... Against a Fighting Irish frontline that boasted heights of 6-foot-11, 6-foot-11 and 6-foot-9, Smallwood grabbed 18 rebounds including six on the offensive end of the floor ... Smallwood lost the rebounding war by one to Notre Dame’s Torin Francis, but he was the catalyst for NIU outrebounding the Irish by 10 (53-43).

Boarding School
It’s no secret that the key to NIU’s resurgence under Rob Judson has been its success in rebounding ... During Northern Illinois’ rough start to the 2002-03 season, the Huskies were outrebounded in seven of their first-10 games ... During that stretch, the Huskies opened up with a 4-6 record ... Starting with its Dec. 30, 2002, game vs. Eastern Illinois, the Huskies went on a rebounding tear, winning or tying the rebounding war in 18 of their final 21 games ... During that stretch, the Huskies went 14-4 in those 18 games and finished with its highest win total (17) since the 1995-96 season ... This year the Huskies are 3-2 in the rebounding war including a 53-43 advantage at No. 19 Notre Dame, which spurred on an 18-point comeback in the second half.

Defense ... Defense ...
Defense wins championships and NIU’s first step towards that goal of a conference title has been on the defensive end of the floor ... During the early portion of the 2003-04 season, the Huskies have been outstanding defensively, allowing opponents to make only .359 percent of their shots, tops in the Mid-American Conference and 12th nationally ... The Huskies have only allowed one opponent (Iowa, .419) to shoot better than 40 percent from the floor in a game this season and have only allowed 40 percent shooting or better in a half on three occasions ... Against Illinois State, Northern Illinois held the Redbirds to a school record low of 12 points in the first half on 4-of-26 shooting ... For the game, the Redbirds shot only 30.2 percent from the floor, their lowest shooting percentage since Dec. 15, 2002, at Western Kentucky ... Two days prior to their shutdown of ISU, the Huskies did the same to nationally-ranked Notre Dame ... In allowing the Fighting Irish to shoot 36.5 percent from the floor, NIU threw the clamps on the Irish in the second half, allowing only 21 percent (6-of-28) shooting and just 1-of-19 shooting in the game’s final 14:46 ... During a 40-minute stretch from the second half of the Notre Dame contest through the first half of the ISU matchup, NIU allowed just 10-of-54 (.185) shooting from the floor.

Deep Depth
Head Coach Rob Judson knew one of the strengths to his 2003-04 basketball team would be its tremendous depth ... With the emergence of a strong freshman class, the Huskies have 13 players capable of playing important minutes as the season progresses ... Against No. 20 Notre Dame, 12-of-13 players saw critical minutes including transfer Johnathan Byrd, who totaled then-career highs in points (4) and minutes (8) ... Walter Thompson saw his first action of the season against the Fighting Irish, playing four first-half minutes, while scoring two points ... Northern Illinois also played its full-complement of 12 players against Illinois State, while 11-of-12 saw action in the season-opener vs. Eastern Illinois.

The Frosh, Rookies, Newbies ....
Call them what you will, but don’t call them bashful as NIU’s quartet of freshmen have made an instant impact for the Huskies this season ... Redshirt freshman James Hughes earned the first start of his career vs. Illinois State (Nov. 26) and came through with a career performance ... Hughes set career highs in points (11), field goals (4), free throws made (3) and rebounds (6) against the Redbirds, while playing a career high 22 minutes ... Hughes also blocked three shots to push his MAC-leading total to 12 ... In the season-opener against Eastern Illinois (Nov. 22), the Silvis, IL, native set an NIU freshman record with six swats in 15 minutes of action ... Mike McKinney has been Mr. Versatility so far this season ... While he is fourth among newcomers in scoring, the Evanston, IL, native ranks 18th conference wide in offensive rebounds per game (1.80) ... He is also second on the team with nine offensive boards ... Ryan Paradise is second among newcomers and sixth on the team with his 4.0 ppg. scoring average ... The Naperville, IL, product is also fourth on the team in assists (8) and will rank among the top-10 free throw shooters in the MAC (.833) with a few more attempts.

Huskies Seventh In ESPN Mid-Major Poll
After starting the season with a 3-2 record, the Northern Illinois men’s basketball team is ranked seventh in the most recent ESPN Mid-Major Top 10 ... The Huskies were ranked fifth when the poll debuted before the season opener, but slipped three spots after its 74-65 loss at Notre Dame ... Northern Illinois is the lone MAC school represented in the poll, but both Toledo and Akron are receiving votes ... The Huskies moved up one spot in this week’s poll after their 54-53 win over Illinois Chicago on Dec. 5 ... The Flames were ranked third in the poll prior to their matchup with the Huskies.

Smallwood, Smith Garner Preseason Accolades
Prior to the start of the season, both Marcus Smallwood and P.J. Smith earned recognition as two of the top players in the Mid-American Conference ... In addition to being slated to the Preseason MAC Western Division squad, both seniors are being heralded by a number of preseason magazines ... Athlon and the Sporting News both named Marcus Smallwood as its MAC Player of the Year, while Street & Smith’s magazine named him to its All-MAC team ... P.J. Smith also received a number of preseason honors ... In addition to being a preseason All-MAC pick by Street & Smith’s and The Sporting News, Smith was named the MAC’s top NBA prospect and the player with the top instincts in the conference by Street & Smith’s ... Smallwood was also touted as the top shot blocker and the top athlete in the MAC by Street & Smith’s.

Huskies Picked To Win The MAC
On the strength of 38 first-place votes, the NIU Huskies were picked to win the MAC-Western Division over Bowling Green by the Conference Media ... The Huskies were also chosen as the favorite to win the MAC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament over Miami (Ohio).

MAC West Voting: Northern Illinois (28) 309, Bowling Green (13) 245, Western Michigan (4) 226, Ball State (1) 192, Toledo (1) 130, Central Michigan (1) 128, Eastern Michigan 114
MAC East Voting: Miami-Ohio (21) 247, Akron (17) 240, Kent State (9) 200, Marshall 125, Ohio 103, Buffalo (1) 72

MAC Tournament Voting: Northern Illinois (16), Miami-Ohio (10), Bowling Green (7), Ball State (4), Western Michigan (3), Kent State (2).

Warm Up The Bus
Go ahead and “Warm up the Bus” the Huskies don’t mind ... Under Rob Judson’s watch as the head coach, NIU has won 11-of-19 MAC road games including an impressive 7-2 record last season ... While the Huskies did drop their final two MAC road games of the season, NIU won seven straight foreign-court contests including a win at MAC Eastern Division champion Kent State (67-61) on Feb. 8.

Percentages Are With The Huskies In 2003-04
When the Huskies were chosen as the favorite to win the Mid-American Conference on Oct. 23rd in Cleveland, it was for good reason as NIU returns a good portion of its 2003 box score this season ... Of the team’s 2,158 points scored in 2002-03, 1,683 points (78 percent) return including three of the team’s top-four scorers ... Of the 1,105 rebounds a year ago, 871 rebounds (78 percent) are back including Marcus Smallwood’s 10.1 boards a game ... An amazing 194-of-195 three-pointers return headlined by P.J. Smith, Al Sewasciuk and Todd Peterson who combined for 159 of the 194 returning treys.

Keeping It Interesting, Huskies 11-5 Last Season In Close Games
The Huskies did just that last season as 16 of the team’s 31 games were decided by 10 points or less ... In those 16 games, the Huskies recorded an 11-5 overall record, with seven of those 11 wins coming on the road ... In addition to being 7-2 on the road in close games, the Huskies were 3-3 at the Convocation Center and 1-0 in neutral-court contests ... This season, NIU is 1-1 in games decided by 10 points or less ... After opening with a 83-76 win against Eastern Illinois, the Huskies dropped a nine-point decision (74-65) at No. 20 Notre Dame.

Bucking The Trend, Huskies Enjoy Season Of Firsts In 2002-03
The 2002-03 season was a year of firsts for the Northern Illinois basketball program under second-year head coach Rob Judson ... In addition to enjoying the most wins (17) for NIU since the 1995-96 season, the Huskies enjoyed a number of firsts on the road ... With its 72-65 win at Illinois State (Dec. 21) NIU defeated the Redbirds for the first time since Jan. 3, 1981, and for the first time on the road since Feb. 11, 1980 ... NIU’s 63-46 win at Bowling Green stopped a six-game losing skid to the Falcons dating back to Dec. 4, 1996, which was also NIU’s last win at Bowling Green ... NIU’s 72-65 win at Toledo was its first since Feb. 19, 1983 ... NIU also won its second consecutive game at Ball State with a 66-64 decision on Jan. 11 ... The last time NIU won back-to-back games at BSU (1971-72, 1972-73) Billy Harris and Jim Bradley were scoring points in bunches for the Huskies ... That 1972-73 season was also the last time NIU swept a season series from the Cardinals ... The 1982 season was the last time NIU won at Ohio, but the Huskies stopped that drought with a 68-61 win in Athens, OH, (Jan. 15) ... The Huskies made it a clean sweep over the Bobcats for the first time since 1979-80 with an 80-53 win in DeKalb on Feb. 11 ... The Huskies also had its first taste of MAC Tournament success in some time with wins over Buffalo (March 10) and Western Michigan (March 13) in the opening-two rounds ... The last time NIU won a MAC Tourney game was the 1981-82 season, which was also the last time the Huskies reached the MAC semifinals ... NIU went on to win the MAC Tourney that season and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

NIU Makes School History, Receive Votes In Preseason AP Top 25
It’s being there at the end of the season that matters the most, but the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball program made school history with the releasing of the preseason AP Top 25 poll when the Huskies received three votes to finish tied for 48th nationally ... The only Mid-American Conference school to receive votes in the preseason poll, the Huskies are tied with Georgia, Illinois-Chicago, Nevada and Wichita State ... While this is the first time the Huskies have received votes in the AP’s preseason Top 25 poll, the Huskies have gotten votes before during the regular season and in the final AP Top 25 national rankings ... The last time NIU received votes in the Associated Press poll was at the end of the 1990-91 season, when the Huskies got two votes and finished 43rd ... During the course of that season, Northern Illinois ascended as high as No. 31 in the AP poll (Feb. 25) and No. 29 in the USA Today-CNN poll on Feb. 18 ... That year the Huskies accumulated a 25-6 overall record and won the Mid-Continent Conference with a 14-2 mark ... Current head coach Rob Judson was an assistant on Jim Molinari’s staff that season ... Northern Illinois’ highest national ranking came during the 1971-72 season when NIU Hall of Famer Jim Bradley led the Huskies to No. 18 in the AP poll during the regular season. That season Northern Illinois finished 20th in the final AP poll with a 21-4 record.

Huskies Ink Chicago-Area Products To Letters Of Intent
Northern Illinois head coach Rob Judson announced the signing of three student-athletes to letters of intent as Frank Clair of Chicago Leo High School and teammates Zach Pancratz and Craig Reichel of Schaumburg High School signed with the Huskies for the 2004-05 season ... A 6-foot-6 small forward, Clair was a third team Class A all-state selection as a junior, averaging 16.2 points and 7.5 rebounds a game ... In addition to his steady scoring and rebounding production, the First Team All-Catholic League pick added 3.4 assists and 2.1 blocks for the Lions, who finished the season with an 18-12 record ... The Huskies also got a pair of signatures from Schaumburg High School teammates Zach Pancratz and Craig Reichel ... A 6-foot-4 combo guard, Pancratz led Schaumburg in scoring as a junior, averaging 16.8 points a contest while hitting more than two 3-pointers a game ... An excellent rebounder from his perimeter position, Pancratz averaged 4.9 boards, while dishing out 3.1 assists ... A versatile power forward, Reichel combines size with a solid perimeter game ... As a junior, the 6-foot-8 post player more than doubled his scoring output, going from 7.7 points per game as a sophomore to 15.9 points last season ... A strong defensive presence, Reichel led the Saxons in rebounding (8.0) and blocks (3.4). Despite playing the power forward position, Reichel gives the Huskies a skilled big man who can perform on the perimeter ... While he averaged nearly three assists per game as a junior, Reichel hit an impressive 48 percent of his three-point attempts as a sophomore.

Huskies Add Cyrus Tate To 2004-05 Recruiting Class
Northern Illinois University men’s basketball coach Rob Judson announced the signing of Homewood-Flossmoor standout Cyrus Tate to a National Letter of Intent on Tuesday (Dec. 9), as Tate becomes the fourth Chicagoland prep standout to sign with the Huskies for the 2004-05 season ... A 6-foot-8, 230-pound power forward, Tate signed his letter of intent to play for Northern Illinois on Nov. 19 and fills the Huskies’ final available scholarship opening for next season ... Last season as a member of Roy Condotti’s talented 20-8 Homewood-Flossmoor club, Tate averaged 12.5 points and 7.7 rebounds a game as a junior. A consensus Top-25 player in the state of Illinois by Chicago Hoops, Hoop Scoop and High School Elite, Tate gives the Huskies a physical low-post presence that excels on both ends of the floor. While his size and strength allow him to perform on defense, ChicagoHoops.com ranks Tate as one of the top five offensive post players in the state ... A four-year member of the varsity squad at Homewood-Flossmoor, Tate turned in a season best 25-point, 12-rebound performance against Proviso East High School last season ... Tate joins Chicago Leo High School small forward Frank Clair and Schaumburg High School teammates Zach Pancratz and Craig Reichel as members of the 2004-05 Northern Illinois men’s basketball recruiting class.