NCC Men’s Basketball team is already into their CCIW schedule this season while playing six non-conference games in preparation for CCIW play. Led by the Helwig brothers and an experienced roster, they are hovering at the .500 mark. At the moment, they are 3-2 in non-conference play, while going 1-1 against CCIW opponents, giving them an overall record of 4-4.
The Cardinals are led by Matt and Ethan Helwig. The brothers are arguably the best-scoring duo in the entire CCIW. Through the first seven games, Matt is leading the team with 23 points per game, with younger brother Ethan not too far behind, having 18.4 points per game of his own. Matt’s season-high currently sits at 31 points, which he scored in an overtime thriller against Aurora University. Ethan put up 32 in the game prior against Whitman College.
The Cardinals most recent CCIW action saw them drop a game at home against North Park on Dec. 3, despite shooting well over 40% from the field as a unit.
Plenty of experience
The team is fortunate to return a majority of last season’s roster to the floor this year. The only player not coming back was Blaise Meredith. The former Cardinal guard was second on the team in points per game with 14.7 and was a nearly 50 percent shooter from the field. Besides Meredith, the Cardinals were able to regain the Helwig duo, Shea Cupples and Brian Johnson.
When asked about the changes in this year’s team from last season’s, Cupples didn’t hesitate to mention all of the talent the Cards brought back.
“We have a lot of the key nucleus back from last year’s team, as well as most of the coaching staff. Having the Helwigs around the core is a big advantage that we have. That has been very helpful because we played together all last year and we have an understanding of what each other likes to do,” Cupples said.
Being an older guy on this team, Cupples also expressed that he takes it upon himself to be a voice to follow for this group.
“I feel like I am more of the vocal leader of the team, and that has just come naturally for me my whole life. I take the responsibility of being a leader of the team very seriously. Whenever we do good or bad, it’s all my responsibility, and I love that,” Cupples mentioned.
New season, new head coach
With a new season comes new leadership at the helm for NCC, as this is head coach Anthony Figueroa’s first season guiding this men’s basketball program.
Figueroa brings quite the resume to Naperville. Most recently, he was at Parkland College competing in the NJCAA ranks. During his 10 seasons as the head coach of the Cobras, they went 221-79. This included two appearances to the NJCAA Elite Eight, also winning the NJCAA Central District Championship last season with a 23-8 record.
He’s also had prior coaching experience in the CCIW. Figueroa’s time in the conference stems back to when served as an assistant coach at Milikin University from 2008-2011.
His players at NCC have embraced the change that they knew he’d bring to the program, especially with the pedigree that follows him.
“Coach has been great about reaching out to us and creating a personal connection off the floor to help build trust on the floor. None of us players have ever had a coaching change before at the collegiate level, so it was an interesting process, but coach Figueroa made that transition as smooth as we could have asked for,” said Cupples.
Creating these relationships can be tough to do on the fly, but Figueroa seems like he has a good grasp on what he can get out of his players, while still connecting with them in a personal way. It helps when the players are able to rally around each other, another factor that displays the leadership of the Matt and Ethan.
Looking ahead
Just two games into their CCIW schedule, the Cards have their best basketball in front of them.
They take the floor next against the Illinois Wesylan University on Dec. 10 in Bloomington, Illinois. The last time these two teams squared off, the Cardinals pulled off an upset in the CCIW Tournament, sending the Titans packing for the season. The team made it to the conference tournament championship before eventually losing to national runner-up Elmhurst University.
NCC will look to bring that same energy to the Shirk Center this weekend, with tip-off slated for 7:15 p.m. on Saturday.
