Jace Kitchen spent his spring break winning a national championship.

The former DeKalb boys basketball star was a key bench player for Rock Valley College as the Golden Eagles won their second NJCAA Division III National Championship in three years March 14 at Sullivan County Community College in New York.

“It was really exciting because even before the season, during workouts, that’s what we were aiming for, because we’d see the other banner,” said Kitchen, referring to the Golden Eagles’ national championship from 2014.

Kitchen finished the season averaging 4.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and an assist in 13.3 minutes per game for the Golden Eagles, who finished 33-3. The 6-foot-6 star guard was the eighth leading scorer on the team and spent much of the time playing power forward for Rock Valley, but he said that Golden Eagles coach Craig Doty may move him back to the wing.

“We have big expectations for Jace moving forward,” Doty said. “We redshirt nearly every player in our program to maximize their development. While this is a possibility for Jace next year, he is also such a good student that he may play. He needs to add 15 pounds of muscle to his frame, and he will be relied on to provide consistent scoring in his sophomore season.”

Kitchen scored a season-high 14 points in a 116-86 win over University of Wisconsin-Rock County and while he was scoreless in six minutes of the Golden Eagles’ 88-75 win over No. 2 Rochester Community and Technical College (Minnesota) in the title game, he had seven points in nine minutes in a 87-65 victory over No. 4 Nassau Community College (New York) in the semifinals.

The former Barb said that he was originally supposed to redshirt, before getting Doty to allow him to play as a true freshman.

“I’m glad that I didn’t redshirt, especially because of how the season ended,” Kitchen said.

It has been a dominating past three seasons for the Golden Eagles. They have been ranked No. 1 at Division III since Oct. 27, 2014, and have two championships (2014, 2016) and a 2015 runner-up finish. It’s been a run that has caused confidence to hover over the team, Kitchen said.

“You can have (swagger) if you back it up,” Kitchen laughed. “It was when we were 19-0 that I realized, ‘Wow. This is really cool to be a part of a special team.’ “

The 33 wins are the most in a season for Rock Valley.

However, the Golden Eagles are losing 70.6 points of scoring per game for next season, including leading scorers in point guard LT Davis (17.9) and center Elijah Williams. Kitchen said that he wants to add weight and work on his shooting and foot speed before the season.

But he will return for the 2016-17 season as a national champion – which includes a medal from the NJCAA, commemorative hats and shirts and, of course, a championship ring.

“That’s the one I’m excited about,” Kitchen said of the ring.