By Carter Crane –
In a match of winning Division III college basketball programs, Aurora University announced Tuesday that Matt Airy of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., is Aurora’s 28th men’s head basketball coach in the program’s 107-year history and only the fourth since the 1980 season.
Aurora has had 26 consecutive winning seasons. Whitman in the last four years, in order, has been a member of the NCAA D-III national tournament’s Sweet Sixteen, Final Four, Elite Eight, and Sweet Sixteen. Both Aurora and Whitman were in the 64-team tournament in the 2019 season. Aurora fell in the first round after capturing the Northern Athletics Conference tournament championship.
Lance Robinson had been the Aurora head coach the last three seasons. He resigned to find other employment opportunities. Previously he was an assistant coach under James Lancaster at Aurora University and his senior season was a team captain.
Airy had been an assistant coach and associate head coach at Whitman since 2008. He played at Whitman College and was graduated in 2004. Following graduation he was head coach at Bellevue Community College for four seasons and compiled a good won-loss record. Whitman has an enrollment of approximately 1,500 students, and is a four-hour drive from Bellevue.
• Lipscomb University finished in second place in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) last week. Lipscomb freshman Jake Wolfe from Aurora Christian High School was a top reserve guard. “I told him that he had a great year and that I was proud of him, Dan Beebe, the Aurora Christian boys head basketball coach said. “He is going to be (making a transition) into a much bigger role next year with all the seniors they are graduating. He averaged about 15 minutes during the season and played great.”
• There were three Division I Illinois schools in Division I men’s basketball postseason play: Bradley lost in the first round to Michigan State in the NCAA; Loyola lost in the first round of the NIT to Creighton; DePaul lost in the championship series of the CBI (College Basketball Invitational) to South Florida. Lewis University of Romeoville fell by the wayside after two games in the Division II men’s tournament. In Division III, Illinois men’s teams were led by Wheaton College, which made it to the Final Four, and Aurora, North Central, Lake Forest, Augustana, and Eureka. Illinois women’s D-III tournament schools included Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan.
• The top Illinois team in college basketball tournaments was Northwestern University which took second place in the women’s NIT.
• The Faith Build for Habitat for Humanity silent auction is on for four tickets to the Chicago Cubs-Oakland game Tuesday, Aug. 6. The bidding started at $250.00 and will run through July 18.
• The Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey team did not make the playoffs, however, the Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley team captured the Combined Varsity State championship of the Illinois high school ice hockey tournament. Other champions: New Trier Green in red varsity; Fenwick in girls varsity; St. Viator in boys junior varsity and Wheaton West Black in boys junior varsity combined. In league play Glenbard was third and Hinsdale Central fourth behind champion Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley. Wheaton West Black was in fifth place and Oswego and Naperville Central were tied for eighth place.