CHADRON, Neb. – After challenging themselves against a perennial Division II power to open the 2025-26 season, Chadron State men's basketball will play on the Chicoine Center court for the first time as part of a three-games-in-four-days stretch that will see the Eagles battle a trio of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) opponents.

Chadron State will face the University of Mary at home on Wednesday at 1 p.m. before heading to a classic over the weekend hosted by Sioux Falls in South Dakota. The Eagles will meet the host Cougars on Friday at 6 p.m. before facing Minnesota State on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Wednesday's home opener will be broadcast on the RMAC Network, which now requires a subscription. Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on the NSIC Network, which is free. 

Promotional Notes
Wednesday's home opener is Education Day at Chicoine Center. Over 850 elementary school children from around the area will be attending Wednesday's game to cheer on the Eagles. 

In order to allow the elementary schoolers to travel to and from the game as part of their school day, tip-off for Wednesday's game will be 1 p.m. All other weekday games for CSC this season will start at 7 p.m. (usually preceded by a 5 p.m. women's game), with the lone exception of Thursday, December 11 vs. CSU Pueblo, which is moved up to 1 p.m. to avoid facility conflicts with graduation.

RMAC Network Reminder
As a reminder, RMAC Network games this season now require a pay-per-view subscription to watch. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their broadcast systems and programs.
 
NEWS: RMAC Network Moves To Pay-Per-View Model
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network, including both home and away RMAC contests for Chadron State. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription (for all sports) costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants the viewer access to a single game for 24 hours. Subscriptions can be purchased through Hudl at rmacnetwork.com. 
 
RMAC Network subscriptions apply to any game that is hosted by an RMAC institution, regardless of whether or not Chadron State is playing in the game. CSC's home nonconference games are included in monthly and annual subscriptions. 
 
Fans will technical support issues can contact Hudl, visit the RMAC email the RMAC Network FAQ page, or directly email the RMAC at rmac@rmacsports.org.

Looking Back
Facing a program in West Texas A&M that has earned the No. 1 NCAA tournament seed in the South Central Region in two of the past three seasons, Chadron State suffered a pair of season-opening losses on the road. 

RECAP: West Texas A&M (Fri.) | West Texas A&M (Sat.)

West Texas A&M did what few teams have been able to do offensively against the Chris Francis-era Eagles, scoring the most and third-most points by any CSC opponent in single game since Francis took over in back-to-back contests.

The Eagles shot 50 percent in the first half of Friday's game and 42 percent over all of Saturday and had four players score in double figures in each game.

The Rotation
Over the first weekend of games, Chadron State men's basketball had 11 players record minutes in both contests, with six averaging over 20 minutes per game and nine topping 16 minutes per game. 

Only three players started both games – Melbourne, Australia native and junior point guard Mack Keighran, Iowa Western CC transfer Jadon Cool and 6-foot-7 Lincoln, Nebraska freshman Konnor Kralik. Northern State transfer Ethan Russell, Angelo State grad transfer Blessing Adesipe, Northeast CC transfer Collin Nick and Montenegro native Luka Djurovic all started 1 of 2 games. 

Three of CSC's leaders in minutes per game did not start either contest, however. Isaiah Randolph, a New York native who previously played at Eastern New Mexico and Hill College, leads the team through two games with both 25 minutes per game and 17.5 points per game. Randolph scored a team-high 19 points on Friday and 16 points on Saturday.

Zach Smith, the lone CSC player who saw the court for last year's team to return to this year's roster, is averaging 22 minutes per game after logging 13.5 per contest in 2024-25. Smith is averaging 12 points per game, doing much of it from the free throw line as Smith went 10 of 14 from the stripe on Saturday.

Sophomore Jovan Jovanovic, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is averaging 8.5 points per game on 21 minutes per game. 

Stat Standouts

• Isaiah Randolph's 17.5 points per game currently ranks seventh in the RMAC. Jadon Cool's 13.0 points per game ranks 18^th.
• Randolph ranks eighth in the RMAC with 7.5 rebounds per game. 
• Ethan Russell has made 4 of 6 three-point attempts this season (.667). Russell and Jadon Cool are tied for fourth in the RMAC with 2.0 made three-pointers per game. 
• Isaiah Randolph ranks third in the RMAC with 20 attempted free throws, while Zach Smith is tied for fourth with 19. Randolph's 19 made FTs rank third while Smith's 14 are tied for fifth. 
• As a team, Chadron State is averaging 79.5 points per game, which ranks fifth in the RMAC.
• The Eagles rank eighth in team field goal percentage (.443) and are tied for third in free-throw percentage (.803). 

In the Polls
Chadron State was picked seventh out of 15 teams in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, receiving one first-place vote. 

Black Hills State was picked to win the league, receiving 10 of 15 first place votes, while reigning champs Colorado School of Mines were second, receiving three first-place votes. Colorado Mesa received the final first-place vote and finished third while UCCS and Fort Lewis rounded out the top five. 

The remainder of the RMAC tournament positions were filled by MSU Denver, the Eagles and Colorado Christian. The poll was rounded out by Adams State, Westminster, New Mexico Highlands, CSU Pueblo, Western Colorado, Regis and South Dakota Mines. 

The RMAC had two preseason ranked teams in the NABC Coaches Poll – Colorado School of Mines at No. 10 and Black Hills State at No. 17.

Scouting the Opposition
Chadron State will be playing three schools from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) – the University of Mary Marauders, the Sioux Falls Cougars and the Minnesota State Mavericks. 

In the 16-team NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, UMary was picked 16^th, Sioux Falls was picked eighth and Minnesota State was picked third. 

Mary
The Marauders have a first-year head coach in Darren Tighe, who has spent 10 seasons as a collegiate head coach with the likes to Dakota State University, Mayville State University and Ridgewater Junior College. The 2024-25 Marauders went 5-26 overall and 3-19 in the NSIC. 

This year, Mary is also 0-2 after opening the season with an 83-63 loss to Northwestern Oklahoma State University and a 94-76 loss to Oklahoma Baptist University. Junior Kelton Coleman is averaging 15 points and five rebounds per contest while Amare Jackson is averaging 10.5 points per game on 57 percent shooting. 

Junior guard Kenny Gonzalez was placed on the NSIC Players to Watch list after averaging 12.1 points per game at San Diego City College. Gonzalez is averaging 6.5 points per game through two games at Mary. 

Chadron State and Mary last played in 2011, with Mary winning by one point, 73-72, in Chadron.

Sioux Falls
USF will be the first nonconference rematch for Chris Francis at Chadron State after the Cougars handed CSC a 91-76 loss at the Chicoine Center last season. Sioux Falls is one of two repeat non-RMAC opponents on the schedule for 2025-26 alongside Nebraska Kearney. 

Sioux Falls is 0-2 with a pair of losses to MIAA teams – falling to Pittsburg State 91-76 and Central Missouri 82-77 in a classic at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Redshirt sophomore and Sioux Falls native Taylen Ashley is the club's leading scorer at 20 points per game, putting up 22 on 10 of 17 shooting against Pittsburg State and adding 18 against Central Missouri. 

The Cougars have three double-figure scorers in Ashley, Brogan Madson (17 ppg) and Brandon Hrncir (13 ppg). Hrncir is also the team's leading rebounder with eight boards per game while Camden Davis has seven rebounds per game. Despite the 0-2 record, Sioux Falls is grabbing 10.5 rebounds per game more than their opponents in the early going. 

Cougars head coach Chris Johnson is in his 18^th season at USF, where he is the school's all-time wins leader. The Cougars have won double-digit games every non-pandemic season since 2014-15. 

Minnesota State
The Minnesota State Mavericks, located in Mankato, Minnesota, are a formidable program which won the NCAA Division II national championship in 2023-24, but only two players remain from that team. 

Malcolm Jones, a key reserve on the championship roster, is now a star in his senior season. Jones, a preseason NSIC Player to Watch, is averaging 17.2 points per game through five contests and won last week's NSIC South Division Player of the Week honor. 

The Mavericks are 4-1, with wins over Northwest Missouri State, Central Missouri, Henderson State and Crown (DIII) and a loss to Pittsburg State. They are outscoring opponents by 11.8 points per game. 

Head Coach Matt Margenthaler is in his 25^th season and has a .694 career winning percentage at the helm in Mankato. A four-time NSIC Coach of the Year, Margenthaler was also the NABC National Coach of the Year during MSU Mankato's national championship season.

Coach's Corner
Chadron State Head Coach Chris Francis is in his second season leading the Eagle men's basketball program. In his first season, Francis put together a 15-14 overall record with an 11-9 record in RMAC play. The Eagles qualified for the RMAC tournament as the No. 8 seed.

Francis comes to Chadron after serving as the head coach at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (NAIA) where Francis compiled a record of 176-94 in nine seasons.

Francis led the Drovers to five NAIA National Tourney appearances, a Sooner Athletic Conference Championship, and a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, also taking USAO to an NAIA Elite Eight. Francis is a two-time Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2017 and 2022. 

A former student-athlete, Francis was a starting guard and captain of the men's basketball team at Rogers State University. In 2011, he helped lead Rogers State to the NAIA Elite Eight and a 30-2 record. Following that season, Francis was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He was recently inducted into the Rogers State Athletic Hall of Fame.