Eddie Carifio

When it came to short-yardage situations last year, the NIU offense was incredibly successful, in large part thanks to Clint Ratkovich. But with him graduated, Mason Blakemore, Antario Brown and Harrison Waylee will look to match his success in those situations.

From mega-conferences to NIL to DEI, Sean Frazier spoke Tuesday at NIU media day. Here's some of the best he and football coach Thomas Hammock had to offer.

After a canceled 2020 season due to pandemic lockdowns and a 2021 first day driven indoors due to tornadoes, DeKalb and Sycamore got their first day of fall camp off without a hitch on Monday.

Last year, the NIU football team ranked 117th out of 130 teams in team sacks. Wisconsin transfer and current NIU defensive end Izayah Green-May said he’s looking forward to changing that.

After a little bit of culture shock, a trip home to Florida in May got senior transfer Shemar Thornton on track and coaches impressed with the wide receiver.

DeKalb receiver Ethan McCarter has earned five college offers as fall approaches

A look at five guys you may not be thinking a lot about this year as NIU practices got underway on Monday.

Derek Kyler wasn't expecting to hear a pitch to play football again, let alone a pitch that involved local DeKalb eateries. But former NIU assistant and Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi got the DeKalb and Dartmouth grad to play one more year.

Whether it was seeing the camaraderie of in-state rivals suddenly becoming teammates, experiencing different wrestling styles of competitors from across the country, or watching a teammate win, local wrestlers learned a lot at a national tournament in Fargo earlier this month

At a camp featuring three NIU defensive backs on Sunday, Jordan Gandy said he felt good giving back to area youth, having grown up in DeKalb, along with something else. “It definitely makes me feel a little old, that’s for sure," he said.

Before heading off to SIU-Edwardsville, Bradley Gillum had one last piece of DeKalb business to take care of. The recent DeKalb graduate won a national championship Friday at the 2022 US Marine Corps Junior Greco National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota.

According to defensive back Alex Panico, the quest for the Kaneland defense to get better started right after the season ended.

After missing last season, 5-4 junior slot receiver Xavier Dandridge is looking for the explosive junior season he didn't get to have as a sophomore for the DeKalb football team.

DeKalb and Kaneland on Thursday met in a joint practice, giving the full rosters of both teams the chance to get some work in against different faces.

Although two are starters, only three players with varsity experience will be back for the Hinckley-Big Rock boys basketball team when the 2022-2023 season starts. Coach Seth Sanderson said one of those players, Ben Hintzsche, can end up being the best player in the Little 10.