CHADRON, Neb. – The Chadron State men's basketball season will hope for another late-season competitive surge, beginning with CSC's first games of 2026 this week at Colorado School of Mines and Regis. 

The Eagles (2-10, 0-4 RMAC) will face the Orediggers (6-9, 2-2 RMAC) at 7 p.m. on Thursday night in Golden. Then, CSC will battle Regis (1-9, 0-4 RMAC) on Saturday afternoon, with tip-off set for 1 p.m.
 
Thursday's game will be the first meeting between Chadron State and Colorado School of Mines since last year's RMAC Tournament quarterfinal, when the eighth-seeded Eagles led with under 90 seconds to play against the top-seeded Orediggers before Mines pulled out a 79-74 win, although rosters for both sides have changed dramatically since.
 
Both games will be streamed live on the RMAC Network, accessible through daily, monthly or annual subscription options, or listen live on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 FM and doubleqcountry.com with Dave Collins on the call. 
 
Looking Back
The Eagles came up just short in a comeback attempt, eventually falling 84-79 to regional rivals Nebraska-Kearney when they last played on December 16.

RECAP: Nebraska-Kearney

The Lopers led by 13 with under five minutes left before a 14-3 run by Chadron State made things just 76-74 with 1:40 remaining, but UNK hit their free throws to stay just ahead of the Eagles.

Jadon Cool scored a season-high 29 points while playing a season-high 39 minutes. Isaiah Randolph (13 pts, 6 reb, 3 stl), Ethan Russell (13 pts) and Luka Djurovic (6 pts, 11 reb) also excelled statistically in CSC's effort. 

Lean on Me
Jadon Cool logged 30 or more minutes in just one of the first six and two of the first eight games of Chadron State's season. That changed in the two weeks prior to Christmas break. 
 
Cool logged 31 minutes against South Dakota Mines, 33 against CSU Pueblo and 30 against UCCS before his season-high 39 against Nebraska-Kearney. He is now averaging 27.5 per contest, second on the team. 
 
When Cool plays, he scores – the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native has 18 or more points in all six games that he has topped 30 minutes, including all three of his 20-point games on the season. Cool ranks seventh among qualified shooters with a .377 three-point percentage.
 
Ethan Emerging
Despite tying for the team lead with 10 starts and having appeared in every game this season for Chadron State, Ethan Russell has been an underrated piece of the Eagles for much of the season. 

Not last time out. Russell, who transferred away from Northern State in his hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota to join the Eagles, recorded season-highs of 13 points and 32 minutes in the game against Nebraska-Kearney. 

Russell is also tied for the team lead with six blocks. He is third on the team in both made threes (10) and attempted threes (37). The redshirt sophomore is one of four players (alongside Jadon Cool, Blessing Adesipe and Jovan Jovanovic) to log minutes in every game, and he averages 21.3 per contest.

Rebounding Force
True freshman Luka Djuvoric, a native of the European country Montenegro, has shown a nose for the ball this season. 

Djurovic ranks fifth in the RMAC with 7.9 rebounds per game this season. In particular, Djurovic excels at corralling defensive rebounds, with 6.5 defensive boards per game ranking third in the RMAC and 34^th in Division II. 

The freshman has topped 10 rebounds three times, with a career-high 14 against both UMary and CSU Pueblo, and also has recorded exactly nine rebounds on three other occasions. 

No slouch on the offensive end either, Djurovic is third on the team with 9.5 points per game and has six double-figure performances in 11 games, led by a career-high 17 against UCCS.

Stat Standouts

• The Eagles are scoring 71.2 points per game and allowing 86.8 points per contest.
• Chadron State is making 74.5 percent of its free throws as a team, which ranks fifth in the RMAC.
• CSC ranks 10^th in steals per game (6.42) and ninth in blocks per game (2.50).
• Isaiah Randolph ranks fifth in the RMAC and 56^th in Division II with an 87.5 percent free-throw percentage. Randolph's .605 field goal percentage (46-76) would lead the RMAC if Randolph had enough attempts to qualify.
• Randolph also has a .627 field-goal percentage (42-67), which would rank second in the RMAC if Randolph had enough field goal attempts to qualify. 
• Randolph also ranks fourth in the RMAC with 1.8 steals per game. 
• Luka Djurovic ranks fifth in the RMAC with 7.9 rebounds per game. Blessing Adesipe (5.2) and Randolph (5.1) rank 21^st and 22^nd, respectively.
• The Eagles have two players scoring in double digits – Jadon Cool (14.3 per game, 15^th in RMAC) and Isaiah Randolph (12.5 ppg). Luka Djuvoric (9.5 per game) and Mack Keighran (9.1) are just out of range. 

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. 

Black Hills State is the only ranked program in the RMAC at No. 15. Chadron State is 0-3 against nationally ranked opponents this season, losing twice to No. 14 West Texas A&M and once to the Yellow Jackets.

Scouting the Opposition
Colorado School of Mines
Picked to repeat as league champions in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, Colorado School of Mines started 0-5 against nonconference opponents Central Missouri, Nebraska-Kearney, Angelo State, Lubbock Christian and St. Mary's. 

Since then, the Orediggers have improved to 6-9 (2-2 RMAC) and will enter Thursday on a two-game win streak after nonconference victories over Rollins (Fla.) and Northern New Mexico, with the latter win coming last weekend on January 3.

Markus Pastorcic-Straun has emerged as Mines's offensive leader in 2025-26. The junior ranks second in the RMAC by averaging 19.9 points per game, including two 30-point outings, and also leads his team with 3.5 assists per game. 

The Orediggers have two other double-digit scorers in Jonathan Moore (13.1 ppg) and veteran forward Alex Romack (12.9 ppg). Romack also ranks second in the RMAC with 8.7 rebounds per game and has recorded eight double-doubles this season. 

Colorado School of Mines head coach Pryor Orser is a six-time RMAC Coach of the Year, including last season, and has led the Orediggers to 21 consecutive winning seasons. He has six RMAC regular season championships, three RMAC Tournament championships and 14 NCAA Tournament berths.

Regis
Regis finished second in the RMAC standings last season, but the head coach and top eight minutes leaders from that team are all gone. This season under first-year coach Rex Walters, the Rangers are 1-9 overall with an 0-4 record in league play.

The Rangers are scoring 65.4 points per game and allowing 90.1. They have also needed to lean on the top part of their roster, with three players in the top eight in the RMAC in minutes per game, including conference leader Gunner Walters at 37.3 per game. Regis was forced to forfeit a December 6 game against Fort Lewis because of player availability. 

Because of the thin bench, Regis's top players are producing, with four players averaging in double figures – Cooper Frith (16.8 ppg), Luke Soden (14.4 ppg in five games), Gunner Walters (10.6 ppg) and Aaron Ofstun (10 ppg in two games). Matt Yost also averages 9.4 points per game in 32 minutes per game. 

Walters joins Regis after a career which has included playing stops at Northwestern and the University of Kansas and an NBA career with the New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat. He has been a Division I head coach at Florida Atlantic and the University of San Francisco. 

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.