Contact:
Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevich@concentric.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage Web Page: www.carthagesports.com
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
2010 Season Opener: The Carthage College men’s basketball team (0-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), tied for 55th place in the “D3hoops.com” pre-season poll, opens its 2009-10 season on Sunday, Nov. 15 by playing host to Transylvania University in a 2 p.m. game at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.
Carthage Classic Returns in November: For the first time since the 2003-04 season, the Red Men will play host to the Carthage Classic on Nov. 20-21 at Tarble Arena. On Friday, Nov. 20, Carthage plays host to No. 13 Wisconsin-Whitewater at 8 p.m. On Saturday, Nov. 21, the Red Men take on No. 17 Wisconsin-Platteville at 7 p.m. Aurora University is the other team in the classic format.
Last Year: Carthage went 15-10 last season and finished fifth in the CCIW with a 7-7 mark.
Steve Djurickovic Named “D3hoops.com” Third-Team All-American: Carthage guard Steve Djurickovic (Jr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) was named “D3hoops.com” third-team All-American and first-team All-Midwest Region and National Association of Basketball Coaches second-team all-region. Djurickovic, a “D3hoops.com” second-team all-region pick in 2008, led the CCIW in scoring (27.6 points per game), assists (6.36 per game) and minutes played (37.04 per game), while ranked fourth in three-point field-goal percentage (.432), eighth in free-throw percentage (.833), 13th in rebounding (4.7 per game), 13th in steals (0.96 per game) and 14th in field-goal percentage (.497).
Steve Djurickovic and Sean Fendley Named All-CCIW: Carthage guards Steve Djurickovic (Jr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) and Sean Fendley (Sr., Elmhurst, Ill./York) were named to the 2009 All-CCIW team. Djurickovic was named first-team All-CCIW for the second-straight year. He led the conference in scoring (27.6 points per game), assists (6.36 per game) and minutes played (37.04 per game), while ranked sixth in three-point field-goal percentage (.432), eighth in free-throw percentage (.833), tied for 13th in rebounding (4.7 per game) and ranked 15th in field-goal percentage (.497). Fendley was named third-team All-CCIW. He was ranked ninth in scoring (14.0 points per game), seventh in minutes played (31.83 per game), seventh in three-point field-goal percentage (.410) and 16th in rebounding (4.3 per game).
Steve Djurickovic Wins CoSIDA Academic Award: Carthage men’s basketball guard Steve Djurickovic (Jr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) was named 2009 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN the Magazine second-team District 5 all-academic on Feb 5. Djurickovic, an exercise and sport science major with a 3.43 cumulative grade-point average, was second among NCAA Division III scoring leaders thru Feb. 1 with a 28.2 per-game mark.
2009 NCAA Division III Championship First/Second Rounds: CCIW-champion and No. 3 Wheaton College (Ill.) earned the CCIW’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship by winning the CCIW Men’s Basketball Tournament. Wheaton (Ill.) was selected as a host-site for first and second round games on Friday-Saturday, March 6-7 at King Arena in Wheaton, Ill. The Thunder defeated Fontbonne University (18-9), 85-58, on Friday, March 6 in a first-round NCAA game, with No. 5 Wisconsin-Platteville defeating No. 40 Hope College (21-7), 83-59, in the other first-round contest. Wheaton (Ill., 26-3) defeated Wisconsin-Platteville (23-6), 74-69 in overtime, in a second-round game on Saturday, March 7. CCIW-member Elmhurst College received an at-large berth and was also selected as a host-site for first and second round games at R.A. Faganel Hall in Elmhurst, Ill. The No. 19 Bluejays (20-8) lost to No. 8 Wisconsin-Whitewater, 81-79 in overtime, in one first-round contest, with defending-national-champion and No. 2 Washington University (Mo.) getting by No. 20 Lawrence University (19-7), 67-65, in the other first-round game. Washington (Mo., 25-2) defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater (23-6), 73-70, in a second-round game on Saturday, March 7.
2009 NCAA Division III Sectional Championship: Wheaton College (Ill.) played host to a Friday-Saturday, March 13-14 sectional championship at King Arena in Wheaton, Ill. No. 3 Wheaton (Ill., 26-4) lost to No. 2 Washington University (Mo., 26-2), 55-52, on Friday, March 13 in a sectional-semifinal game, with No. 1 the University of St. Thomas (Minn., 30-0) defeating No. 7 the University of Puget Sound (25-4), 86-69, in the other semifinal contest. Washington (Mo., 27-2) defeated St. Thomas (Minn., 30-1), 79-64, in the March 14 sectional-championship game.
2009 CCIW Men’s Basketball Tournament: No. 4 Wheaton College (Ill.) clinched its ninth CCIW title and its first since 1999 on the last night of the regular season with a 70-60 win over North Central College. Wheaton played host to the Feb. 27-28 CCIW Men’s Basketball Tournament at its King Arena, and the top-seeded Thunder won a re-match with the fourth-seeded Cardinals (16-10), 77-66, in a semifinal game on Feb. 27. Second-seeded and No. 20 Elmhurst College defeated third-seeded and No. 26 Augustana College (Ill., 18-8), 59-53, in the other semifinal contest. Wheaton (Ill., 24-3) edged Elmhurst (20-7), 67-63, in the Feb. 28 championship game to claim the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.
The Coach: Head coach Bosko Djurickovic completed 13th season at Carthage in 2008-09 and his 23rd overall. His 23-year record stands at 413-197 (217-118 in 13 years at Carthage thru Feb. 20, 196-79 in 10 years at North Park), an overall winning percentage of .677. His 398 career wins starting the 2008-09 season placed him 31st among active NCAA Division III coaches, and his .680 career winning percentage (398-187) was ranked 32nd. Djurickovic’s winning percentage at Carthage (.648) leads the school’s all-time list, and his 217 wins ranks him first all-time, ahead of Herbert “Hub” Wagner (170-107, 1928-43). Djurickovic’s CCIW winning percentage entering the 2009 season (.670, 217-107) is the fifth-best in the 62-year history of the league, and his 217 league victories are second only to Illinois Wesleyan University’s Dennie Bridges. At North Park (1985-94), Djurickovic coached two NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship teams, one in 1985 and the other in 1987. He is one of 13 active coaches to have won two or more NCAA Division III titles. His teams in the mid 1980s set an NCAA Division III record with 62 consecutive home wins from February 1984 to February 1988, and five of his players were named National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Americans. All 10 of his North Park teams were nationally ranked at some point in their seasons. Dave Roehl is the assistant coach, with Ashley Koeshall, Antoine McDaniel, Nick Perrine, Theo Powell and Cory Wilson serving as part-time assistant coaches.
The Polls: Defending-national-champion Washington University (Mo., 29-2 final record in 2009, 25 first-place votes) was ranked first in the pre-season “D3hoops.com” poll, followed by John Carroll University (25-5) second, Guilford College (26-6) third, the University of St. Thomas (Minn., 30-1) fourth, Richard Stockton College (30-3) fifth, Franklin & Marshall College (26-7) sixth, DeSales University (25-6) seventh, Massachusetts-Dartmouth (27-4) eighth, the College of Wooster (23-7) ninth, Wisconsin-Stevens Point (24-5) 10th, Bridgewater State College (22-7) 11th, Texas-Dallas (26-5) 12th, Wisconsin-Whitewater (23-6) 13th, California Lutheran University (18-8) 14th and CCIW-member Wheaton College (Ill., 26-4) ranked 15th. CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan University (13-12) was ranked 26th, conference-member Augustana College (Ill., 18-8) 39th, CCIW-member Elmhurst College (20-8) was tied for 44th place and Carthage (15-10) was tied for 55th place.
Broadcast Information: WRJN-AM Radio (1400) in Racine, Wis., will broadcast all of Carthage’s men's basketball games in 2009-10 for the ninth-straight year. Veteran Kenosha radio sports announcer John Weiser, “The Voice of the Red Men and the Lady Reds,” handles the play-by-play chores. Click here for the Carthage audio stream of the WRJN-AM broadcasts. Click here for “live stats” of home games.
Home Court Advantage: Since Bosko Djurickovic took over head coaching duties in 1996, the Red Men compiled a 114-36 record (.760) over 12 seasons at the Carthage Physical Education Center and a 4-4 mark at the Tarble Arena, which opened on Jan. 5, 2009 with a 71-67 victory over Trinity International University (Ill.)
Non-Conference Success: Since Bosko Djurickovic took over head coaching duties in 1996, Carthage has a 100-41 non-conference record in the regular season (.709).
Record Against Top-25 Teams: Since Bosko Djurickovic took over head coaching duties in 1996, Carthage has a 25-33 record against teams ranked in the top-25 of the “D3hoops.com” poll. Carthage has played the nation’s No. 1 team four times. The Red Men fell to CCIW-opponent Illinois Wesleyan University, 91-67, on Feb. 5, 2005 and 80-79 on Jan. 7, 2006. Carthage lost to top-ranked Wisconsin-Platteville, 74-48, on Dec. 29, 2008 at the St. Norbert College “Nicolet Bank Holiday Tournament” in De Pere, Wis. The Red Men edged No. 1 Wheaton College (Ill.), 55-54, on Jan. 21, 2009.
The Conference: Now in its 64th year as of 2009-10, the CCIW has sponsored men’s basketball as a championship sport since the conference began play in 1946-47. Illinois Wesleyan University has dominated the league over the years, winning or sharing 27 titles in 63 years. Augustana College (Ill.) has win 12 times, including three titles in a row since 2006. Millikin University and Wheaton College (Ill.) have claimed nine championships each, and North Park University was won six times. Carthage College has won four CCIW championships, winning outright titles in 2000 and 2002, with shared titles in both 1964 and 2003. North Central College has won three league championships, and Elmhurst College won its first-ever conference basketball title in 2001. In a pre-season poll released on Oct. 28, the CCIW men’s basketball coaches picked defending-champion Wheaton (Ill.) to repeat in 2009-10 (4 first-place votes, 46 points), followed by Augustana (Ill.) second (2 first-place votes, 39 points), Carthage third (1 first-place vote, 37 points), Illinois Wesleyan fourth (1 first-place vote, 36 points), Elmhurst fifth (22 points), Millikin sixth (17), North Central seventh (15) and North Park eighth (12).
CCIW Leaders: Carthage’s Steve Djurickovic (So., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) led the CCIW in scoring (27.6 points per game), assists (6.36 per game) and minutes played (37.04 per game), while ranked fourth in three-point field-goal percentage (.432), eighth in free-throw percentage (.833), 13th in rebounding (4.7 per game), 13th in steals (0.96 per game) and 14th in field-goal percentage (.497). Sean Fendley (Jr., Elmhurst, Ill./York) was ninth in scoring (14.0 points per game), seventh in minutes played (31.83 per game), seventh in three-point field-goal percentage (.410) and 16th in rebounding (4.3 per game). As a team, Carthage was ranked sixth in scoring offense (70.8 points per game), sixth in scoring defense (70.2 points per game), seventh in scoring margin (+0.6 points per game), second in free-throw percentage (.772), eighth in field-goal percentage (.434), seventh in three-point field-goal percentage (.346) and eighth in rebounding margin (-5.0 per game). Carthage finished the regular season ranked third in home attendance (1,202), with Wheaton College (Ill.) first (1,273), Illinois Wesleyan University second (1,248) and Augustana College (Ill.) fourth (1,111).
NCAA Leaders: Carthage guard Steve Djurickovic (So., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) was ranked second among 2009 NCAA Division III scoring leaders (27.6 points). Djurickovic trailed only Grinnell College’s John Grotberg (31.0). Djurickovic was also ranked 17th in assists (6.36 per game). As a team, Carthage led the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.1) and was ranked eighth in free-throw percentage (.772).
The Record Book: In only his second season, Carthage guard Steve Djurickovic (So., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Bradford) cracked the 1,000-point mark. Djurickovic is ranked 16th on the all-time Carthage scoring list with 1,271 points (thru the 2009 season)…Djurickovic is ranked second on Carthage’s career list for made free throws (425), fourth for free-throw attempts (521) and fifth in assists (266)…Djurickovic set a Carthage season record with 691 points, breaking Barry Bennett’s 1977 mark of 648 points…with a 27.6 scoring average, Djurickovic also Johnie Butler’s 1971 season record of 26.5 points per game…with 239 made free throws, Djurickovic broke Jack Lutz’ 1967 season record of 190…with 287 free-throw attempts, Djurickovic broke Bill Kadlecik’s 1958 mark of 267…with 159 assists, Djurickovic broke Stan Kapka’s 1986 Carthage season record of 133…Djurickovic dished out a Carthage-record 12 assists in the Red Men’s 87-69 win over North Park University on Jan. 31. Djurickovic broke a mark of 11 assists originally set by Stan Kapka in 1986 and subsequently matched by Dave Schlict in 1989, Jake Olson in 1998 and Scott Hood in 2006…Sean Fendley (Jr., Elmhurst, Ill./York) is ranked sixth on Carthage’s career list for made three-pointers (148) and ninth for three-point field-goal attempts (340)…Carthage connected on 18-of-35 three-pointers against Calvin College on Dec. 5 at the CCIW/MIAA Classic, and the 18 three-pointers broke a school record of 17 set 17 versus the Illinois Institute of Technology on Jan. 14, 2007…Adam Tolo’s (Jr., Mackay, Queensland, Australia) 15 three-point attempts at Illinois Wesleyan on Feb. 4 tied a Carthage game record set by Dave Maaske versus Rockford College on Jan. 29, 1989 and matched by Bart Fabian against Carroll University on Dec. 5, 2001.
Quoting Coach Bosko Djurickovic on the 2009 Season: “Going 7-7 is a good year for a lot of teams but not for us. We’ll be better next year. We have the best-returning player and a lot of other returning players. We should be picked as one of the top teams in the league next year. This was a good group to coach. They were hard workers and resilient. They gave me what they had. The results are my fault. The name of the game is recruiting, and that’s what we have to do every day.”