Van Vleet, Lowry could help NIC-10 break a curious barrier

After an impressive NBA Summer League showing, Rockford Auburn graduate Fred Van Vleet has an excellent chance of making the NBA's Toronto Raptors this winter.

And Rockford Boylan graduate Dean Lowry right now is in training camp with the Green Bay Packers after a four-year career at Northwestern that convinced the Packers to make him their fourth round draft pick.

With former Boylan star Jake Smolinski currently playing major league baseball for the Oakland A’s, if both Van Vleet and Lowry make their respective teams, it will mark the first time ever that the NIC-10 has athletes at the highest level of basketball, football and baseball at the same time.

In the long history of the Northern Illinois Conference, which dates back to the turn of the 20^th century, there have been just 18 conference players to play in the NFL/AFL/WFL in football, five in the NBA, ABA or ABL in basketball and five in Major League Baseball.

The very, very long chart below shows that as Rockford’s population stagnated since manufacturing began to feel global pressures in the 1980s, it’s been increasingly rare for NIC-10 athletes to break through at the highest level. That makes this current crop of athletes even more impressive.

NIC-10 professionals at the highest level
Year	MLB	NFL/AAFC/AFL/WFL	NBA/ABL/ABA
1917	Hal Carlson, Rockford
1918	Carlson
1919	Carlson
1920	Carlson
1921	Carlson
1922	Carlson	Harry Englund, Rockford; Laurie Walquist, Rockford
1923	Carlson	Walquist
1924	Carlson	Walquist
1925	Carlson	Walquist
1926	Carlson	Walt McGaw, Rockford; Rex Enright, Rockford; Walquist
1927	Fred Schulte, Belvidere; Carlson	Walquist, Enright
1928	Carlson, Schulte	Ray Marelli, Rockford; Walquist
1929	Carlson, Schulte	Walquist
1930	Carlson, Schulte	Walquist
1931	Schulte	Walquist
1932	Schulte
1933	Schulte
1934	Schulte
1935	Schulte
1936	Schulte
1937	Schulte
1938
1939
1940
1941		Leo Stasica, Rockford
1942		Leo Stasica, Rockford
1943		Leo Stasica, Rockford
1944		Leo Stasica, Rockford
1945
1946		Stan Stasica, Rockford (AAFC)
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953		Merwin Hodel, West
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961		Jerry Stalcup, East	John Wessels, West (ABL)
1962		Stalcup	John Wessels, West (ABL)
1963		Marshall Starks, West (AFL); Stalcup	John Wessels, West (ABL)
1964		Starks (AFL)
1965
1966
1967		Preston Pearson, Freeport	Skip Thoren, East (ABA)
1968		Pearson	Thoren (ABA)
1969		Pearson	Thoren (ABA)
1970		Pearson	Thoren (ABA)
1971		Pearson
1972		Pearson
1973		Pearson	Mark Sibley, West
1974		Seth Miller, Auburn (WFL); Pearson	Sibley
1975		Jerry Latin, East; Miller (WFL), Pearson	Kim Hughes, Freeport
1976		Latin, Pearson	Hughes
1977		Latin, Pearson	Hughes
1978		Latin, Pearson	Hughes
1979		Ira Matthews, East; Pearson	Hughes
1980		Matthews, Pearson	Hughes
1981		Matthews	Hughes
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987		Leonard Bell, Jefferson; Mike Junkin, Belvidere; Reggie Sims, West
1988		Junkin
1989		Junkin
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994			Chad Gallagher, Boylan
1995
1996	Rodney Myers, East
1997	Myers
1998	Myers
1999	Myers
2000	Myers
2001	Myers	Carlos Polk, Guilford
2002	Jason Pearson, Freeport; Myers	Polk
2003	Myers, Pearson	Polk
2004	Myers	Polk
2005		Polk
2006		Polk
2007		Polk
2008		Polk
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014	Jake Smolinski, Boylan
2015	Smolinski
2016	Smolinski

* Marcus Posley also is under contract for training camp with the New York Knicks. Posley could help break the barrier as well – depending upon how you to choose to classify him. Posley played for Winnebago for three years before transferring to Auburn for his senior year where he was set to play with Van Vleet.

The IHSA though ruled that the transfer was for basketball reasons and declared Posley ineligible. So Posely graduated from Auburn but never actually competed in the NIC-10. Of course, Carlson and Schulte never played baseball in the NIC-10 either. Baseball wasn’t a school sport during their days. That muddies the water even more.