TriCounty Dave Darnall, in his 20th season as men's basketball coach at Eureka College, is one of the state's most successful coaches. Last season his team went 24-5, his third consecutive season of 24 or more wins, won the championship of NAIA District 20 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Division II national tournament at Nampa, Idaho before bowing out, Eureka's second consecutive appearance in the national tournament.
Eureka ranked 13th in the final NAIA Division II poll last year, finished first in rebound percentage, second in team scoring margin, third in three-point field goal shooting, fourth in team scoring defense and sixth in team field goal shooting.
Darnall entered this season with a 356-148 record, placing him 16th on the NAIA percentage win list and 14th on the NCAA Division Ill ranking.
1969 Spalding Basketball Team  Kneeling (left to right): Dave Scovil, Skeet Barksdale, Ken Wolbeck, Alvin O'NeaI, Skip Thorell, and Rich Lavin The Irish, under coach Ron Patterson, assisted by Ron Dwyer and Ed Bradle, swept to a 20-3 season before a tourney run that ended with a title game loss (58-51) to Proviso East. These MS-8 conference champs secured Spalding's highest IHSA tournament finish. Players were Lamonia Barksdale, Rich Lavin, Art Jenkins, Marty McGann, Jim Moore, Alvin O'Neal, Ken Wolbeck, Chuck Thorell, Steve Schrader and Rick Schaidle. Their 28-4 final record is the best in school history. |