Augustana College is thetop-ranked NCAA Division III men’s basketball team in the Central Region (ncaa.com), and three area graduates have contributed to the Vikings’ success.
The other top teams in the Central Region, one of eight Division III regions nationally, are Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Washington University in St. Louis, Elmhurst, St. Norbert in Iowa, Illinois Wesleyan in downstate Bloomington, and North Central in Naperville.
Augustana, located in the Rock Island/Moline area, is 20-4.
Augustana’s three Lake County players are 6-foot-0 junior guard Jake Norcia from Highland Park, 6-4 junior guard Griffin Pils from Libertyville and 6-foot-7 junior forward Brandon Motzel from Carmel.
Motzel has started half the games and is averaging 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. That rebounding number is second-best on the team, and he’s first on the team in blocked shots (28).
Pils is Augustana’s “sixth man” in terms of minutes played. He’s averaging 6.3 points and three rebounds. He’s shooting 38 percent (22-for-57) on threes.
Norcia has seen action in 10 of the Vikings’ games and played nearly 80 total minutes.
Other ranked teams in the Central Region with area graduates are Elmhurst (6-foot-2 junior Pat Coleman from North Chicago), St. Norbert (6-foot-3 freshman guard Michael Alfieri from Deerfield) and Illinois Wesleyan (6-foot-3 sophomore Andy Stempel from Stevenson). Current Vernon Hills star Robby Nardini will join Wisconsin-Stevens Point next year.
Elmhurst is 19-5, and Coleman is a starter. He’s shooting 33 percent (18-for-54) on threes and 34 percent (42-for-124) overall. He leads the team in steals with 30 and is third in assists.
St. Norbert is 21-1 overall and unbeaten in the Midwest Conference (same league as Lake Forest College). Alfieri has been coming off the bench all season, and has hit three of the four shots he’s taken.
Illinois Wesleyan is 17-7 and split two College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin games with Augustana, winning 89-84 and losing 82-56. Stempel is a reserve, but is in the regular rotation. He’s averaging six points a game and is shooting 50 percent (15-for-30) on threes and hitting 56 percent (35-for-62) from the field.
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Warren grad on top juco team
Des Moines Area Community College is 22-4 and ranked as the No. 2 men’s basketball team in the nation among junior colleges that compete at Division 2, and one of the team’s stars is Warren grad Aarias Austin.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore guard has signed to play next year at Northern Iowa. He’s averaging 14.7 points a game and is shooting 44 percent on threes.
The No. 4 team is Triton College from suburban River Grove, with freshman guard Eric Gillespie from Warren — a high school teammate of Austin — and sophomore forward Devonte Taylor from Waukegan High.
Gillespie comes off the bench and is averaging 7.1 points per game. Taylor has started five times for Triton (26-3) and is averaging 3.3 points.