CHADRON, Neb. – The Chadron State College men's basketball team will open its season with three games in five days to kick off the 2026-27 season, the third year for head coach Chris Francis.
Chadron State will face Northern State on the road in Aberdeen, S.D. at 5 p.m. MT on Monday (6 p.m. CT/local). Then, the Eagles will travel to Shawnee, Oklahoma to participate in a crossover hosted by Oklahoma Baptist. CSC won't face the host team, however – they'll play neutral-site matches against West Texas A&M on Friday and Texas A&M-International on Saturday, with both tip-offs set for 4:30 p.m. MT (5:30 p.m. CT/local).
How to Tune In
All three of this week's games are behind unique paywalls. Northern State's game is on MIDCO Sports, which offers a $15 monthly plan. Friday and Saturday's are being carried by the Great American Conference (GAC) Sports Network, which offers a $25 monthly plan.
When the time comes, all of Chadron State's home games and all of CSC's conference games, home and away, will be carried on the same RMAC Network. Overall, 23 of Chadron State's 28 games for the year will take place on the RMAC Network, which has subscriptions for $25 a month or $130 per year. Chadron State College receives a revenue split of RMAC Network subscriptions.
PURCHASE: RMAC Network
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.
In addition, Double Q Country and Dave Collins are scheduled to stream 21 of CSC's 28 games live on 97.5 FM in Chadron and doubleqcountry.com, beginning with CSC's home opener on November 18.
Looking Back
Chadron State men's basketball had a 7-21 record with a 5-15 mark in conference play. The Eagles were 4-9 at the Chicoine Center and 3-12 in games outside Chadron. The program had a streak of three consecutive RMAC Tournament appearances prior to last season.
Highlights included one-point wins over UMary and Northern State, which both featured a go-ahead basket in the final 10 seconds, an overtime Senior Day win over Westminster and a victory over MSU Denver that saw the Eagles rally from 21 points down.
Chadron State will need to replace a substantial amount of 2025-26 production, as all of CSC's top six scorers, top seven rebounders and top six minutes leaders do not return.
The Roster
The top returner in terms in scoring is Jackson Schauer, a 34 percent three-point shooter who appeared in 27 of 28 games off the bench last season. Schauer scored a career-high 26 points against MSU Denver and scored in double figures four times.
Collin Nick is the top minutes-per-game returner from last season, but averaged 12.9 per contest in 20 games (three starts). Nick, now a senior, shot 45.8 percent from the field and had nine blocked shots.
Three "returners" who missed most or all of the season due to injury should play a big part in 2026-27. Lincoln native Konnor Kralik started the first two games of his true freshman season before missing the rest while Patric Prince (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) and Caleb Hannah (IU Indy, Miami Dade Junior College) were highly-regarded transfers brought into last season's team who had to sit out all of 2025-26 but are now ready to play.
Newcomers who could play a big role include a quartet of Texans. Patrick Punch (not to be confused with Prince), is a fifth-year Houston native and former juco national champion. Punch scored 19 points against the Oklahoma Sooners as a member of Division I Mississippi Valley State in 2025-26.
Zyon Little, a 6-foot-6 senior with plenty of Lone Star Conference experience at Texas A&M-Kingsville and Angelo State, joins the Eagles in 2026-27 after playing in all 30 games with 20 starts for the Angelo State Rams, averaging 7.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Ronyo Obou, another Houston native, joins Chadron State after playing at Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Washington (DII, GNAC). Obou played in 21 games with two starts, averaging 4.8 points per game, and set a program record with nine made threes during a 40-point explosion vs. Douglas College. Obou previously played at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M alongside current CSC teammate Patric Prince.
Kelton Williams, from Midlothian, Texas, joins CSC after spending time at the Division I level with the University of Louisana-Monroe and one year at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. Williams appeared in 10 games over two seasons with the Warhawks and averaged 6.6 points and 1.3 steals per game at NEO.
Another potential contributor returning after a medical redshirt is Vincent Tedeschi. A guard from Phoenix, Tedeschi averaged 11 points per game at Central Arizona College two years ago and could also be in line as a primary distributor. Tedeschi was on the roster of RMAC foe New Mexico Highlands last season, but did not appear in a game as he was unavailable due to injury concerns.
The freshman class includes Melbourne, Australia's Chayse Vincent and Broomfield, Colorado's Jaedon Ward. Other transfers include Marc Ferdy (Grayson College) and Spencer Shonnard (Contra Costa College).
In the Polls
Chadron State men's basketball has been picked to finish 14th in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, based on a vote of the league's head coaches. The No. 14 position matches CSC's finish in last year's conference standings.
Black Hills State, the reigning RMAC champions fresh off advancing to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament, were the runaway pick to win the league again in 2026-27. The Yellow Jackets received 12 of 15 first-place votes and finished with 192 points in the poll.
Behind BHSU, CSU Pueblo and Colorado School of Mines were picked second and third, tallying one first-place vote each. Fort Lewis, MSU Denver and Colorado Mesa were next, with CMU grabbing the final first-place vote. Colorado Christian and UCCS tied for seventh and eighth with 111 to grab the final two preseason RMAC placings.
After the top eight, the poll is rounded out by Adams State, New Mexico Highlands, South Dakota Mines, Westminster and Western Colorado ahead of CSC. Regis is picked 15th and last.
There is some precedent for Chadron State to surprise under Chris Francis, who begins his third season leading the Eagle men's basketball program. During Francis's first season in charge, the Eagles were picked 15th in preseason, but made the RMAC conference tournament.
Scouting the Wolves
Northern State is apt to be a tough opponent. This will be the 10th hoops game between the Eagles and Wolves and Chadron State has won just one of the previous nine. That was last year, when freshman Luka Djurovic, who is no longer on the CSC roster, caught an inbounds pass and hit a turnaround hook shot with 2.8 seconds remaining to give the home team a 74-73 victory.
Northern went on to finish with a 12-17 record. Just three players from last year's team are on this year's roster, but one of them is 6-4 senior Josh Book, who was the team's leading scorer at 14.4 points a game. (He got 10 versus CSC.) Book sank 100 of 109 free throws last season.
Another returnee is 6-5 senior Marshawn Smith, who is extra quick and scored 21 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in last year's matchup.
Northern State was picked 10th out of 16 teams in the NSIC Preseason Poll. The Wolves are also opening their season against CSC.
Scouting the Buffaloes
West Texas A&M, a perennial DII power under 13th-year head coach Tom Brown, is already 3-0 in 2026-27, playing over Halloween weekend. West Texas A&M also defeated Chadron State twice last season.
The Buffs beat Lincoln Memorial, a team receiving votes in the NABC national poll, 75-63 before an 81-70 win over Central Oklahoma. Then, WT knocked off No. 17 Grand Valley State 71-70, with Logan Gibson hitting a go-ahead three with eight seconds to go.
Gibson is WT's leading scorer early on, averaging 11.7 points per game, but the Buffs have five players averaging 10 or more – James Parlow, Jr. (11.0), Joel Robinson (11.0), Ryder Cheesman (10.0) and Max George (10.0).
Under Brown, the Buffs are 305-85 overall and have made appearances in two Final Fours and a national title game. They were picked seventh out of 17 teams in the Lone Star Conference preseason coaches poll.
Scouting the Dustdevils
Texas A&M International was picked 15th out of 17 teams in that same LSC poll. The Dustdevils open their 2026-27 season against Oklahoma Baptist on Friday before facing the Eagles Saturday.
The Dustdevils and Eagles have met seven times since 2017. TAMIU has won five, but Chadron State has the win in the only matchup since
Chris Francis took over, a 72-68 win on November 8, 2024 in Francis's CSC coaching debut.
Aaron Perez was named an LSC Player to Watch after averaging 6.2 points per game last season. The Dustdevils bring in an intra-conference transfer in Thomas Tangle, who averaged 9.5 points for Cameron last season.
Mac McConnell is in his seventh season with the Dustdevils, who finished 8-20 overall and 5-15 in the Lone Star in 2025-26.
Coach's Corner
Chadron State Head Coach
Chris Francis is in his third 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.
