Teams
2013-2014 Rock Valley College Men’s Team
Year Inducted: 2024
Category: Teams
Schools / Organizations: Rock Valley College
Head Coach: Craig Doty
Team Record: 30-5 (NJCAA Division III National Champions)
Biography:
In his first season as head men’s basketball coach at Rock Valley College in 2012-2013, Head Coach Craig Doty led his team to its first appearance in the NJCAA tournament in over a decade and to a seventh place finish. But it was obvious to anyone who spoke to him in the off-season that he was not satisfied. In Doty’s mind, that was just the beginning.
His sights were set on a national championship. On Saturday, March 15, 2014, in Loch Sheldrake, New York, Doty and his Golden Eagles team earned every bit of that national championship.
The Golden Eagles started slow and it was obvious early that if they were going to be national champions they were going to earn it over an aggressive, athletic Caldwell team. RVC trailed by as much as 13 in the first half, but managed to cut the lead to five with under a minute to play in the first half before a crushing three-point shot by Caldwell at the halftime buzzer gave them a 32-24 lead over RVC.
The second half belonged to Rock Valley College. Once they took a lead the momentum started to turn in RVC’s favor. They built as much as 10 point lead in the second half and were able to hang on for the victory with some clutch shooting from LT Davis. Davis buried a huge three-point shot with just over 30 seconds to play and RVC clinging to just a three-point lead. A string of Golden Eagles went to the free throw line late to seal the win, 79-69.
Davis was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring 21 points in the championship game, including shooting 5-10 from beyond the three-point arc. Davis averaged 18 points over the tournament’s three games and shot 12-24 from three-point range. Jared Mayes was also named to the NJCAA all-tournament team after scoring 22 points per game. He scored 55 points combined in the semifinals and finals. Davis and Mayes are both from Rockford Jefferson High School and the former J-Hawk duo combined to score 96 points in the NJCAA tournament semifinals and finals.
The Golden Eagles already came into the NJCAA tournament with a program single-season best 27 wins, but they were not content to let that be their crowning achievement for the season. It didn’t take long for RVC to guarantee a better finish at the NJCAA tournament than they had last season. An 83-72 win on March 13, 2014, over Nassau Community College meant the lowest they could finish would be fourth place. Former Rockford Boylan standout Frank Cimino scored 26 points on 5-7 shooting from the three-point line to lead the Golden Eagles to the round one victory.
But they didn’t stop there. On Friday, March 14, 2014, the Golden Eagles knocked off the defending national champion Brookdale Jersey Blue by a stunning final score of 80-59 behind 27 points from Mayes and 20 from Davis.
Team Members in the Picture:
Back Row (L to R):
Seated (L to R):
