11/22/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - The Egyptian Illini Conference, as most fans in the area know, is a unique set up with three of the members also belonging to other conferences.

St. Elmo/Brownstown and CHBC are also in the National Trail, Patoka/Odin is in the Midland Trail and Martinsville also belongs to the Little Okaw Valley.

This conglomerate of clubs in the EIC seem quite balanced when it comes to the competition between the schools with quality rivalries.

In 2024-25, Mulberry Grove and head coach Samuel Barber won the league championship with a 4-1 mark.

For the Aces this was the first conference crown since 2017-18 as they ended up 4-1 in the standings.

St. Elmo/Brownstown, Patoka/Odin and CHBC were all 3-2 in the league in a logjam tie for second.

Martinsville, in its third season in the EIC, finished at 2-3 while Ramsey didn't win a league contest (0-5).

The schools involved appear to have no issues playing each other in multiple tournaments with members involved in the Mulberry Grove Thanksgiving Tournament, the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament and also the annual National Trail Conference Tournament.

Patoka/Odin will have a new head basketball coach for the first time in 20-years.

Joe Eddy stepped down to work with younger kids in the district and one of his former players (Dylan Back) takes over the Warriors' program.

Eddy led the Warriors to the school's only sectional championship in 2015-16.

Back assumes control of a team that went just 9-18 last season.

Martinsville, overall, was 17-16 under head coach David Graves.

It is significant as the Bluestreaks were the only league member with a .500 or better overall record.

Ramsey only won a single contest in 2024-25, beating Hartsburg-Emden at the Edinburg Shootout back in December.

Coach Jeff Babbs will hope for improvement this season with the majority of the players from last year returning.

Coach Greg Feezel and his SEB Eagles also slumped a bit last winter, going just 13-18 overall.

CHBC, also known as Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City, were just 8-20 in 2024-25 for Coach Tanner Thompson.

Of the six teams in the EIC, only Martinsville won a first round regional game in 2024-25.

It should be another competitive season in the Egyptian Illini in 2025-26.

Although Coach Tanner Thompson had some seniors on the squad last season, and they will be missed, the CHBC Bobcats will have four kids back that started games during the 8-20 campaign.

CHBC opened with four-consecutive losses last winter at the Cerro Gordo Thanksgiving Tournament and they suffered through a nine-game losing streak in the second half of the season.

The Bobcats were eliminated from the state tournament with a first round defeat to Arcola at the Central A&M Regional.

One of the highlights was a consolation championship win at the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament.

The seniors who hit the bricks from last spring are Kaidyn Calame, Wyatt Rueff, AJ Radloff, Hunter Pope, Blake Mueller and Levi Moon.

But according to Coach Thompson, the Bobcats will have some experience again heading into the season.

Five-ten senior guard August Cosart is one of the starters from last winter.

Three juniors; 6-1 Griffin Vaughn, 6-foot Remington Howell and 6-5 Porter Lilly are back for the Bobcats.

The other starting slot will come down to competition in the early part of preseason practice.

Six-two senior Ben Askins will be among the suitors along with classmate 6-foot Clive Slanscher.

Gage Hart, a 6-6 senior, returns from an injury last season.

Two juniors; 6-2 Hayden Sarver and 5-10 Carter Dilley were also listed by Coach Thompson.

“We have a lot returning for this season. A lot of experience at the varsity level. We have good height with really good athleticism. We have a great group of younger players as well. If we can stay healthy we will compete with anyone,” said Coach Thompson. “We had a tremendous summer schedule and won a lot of games. We could really break out this season and years to come. I’m really looking forward to this season.”

St. Elmo/Brownstown and Coach Greg Feezel will have work to do heading into the 2025-26 season.

Like most teams this season, graduation in the spring took away most of the experience from last winter's edition of Eagles' Hoops and those uniforms will need filled.

Five seniors left the building including four starters from the 13-18 club that were a quick out to host South Central in the regional first round.

Lowell Wihour is the top graduate from the squad as he leaves along with teammates Gavin Sanders, Parker Doty, Trenton Monnet and Vadim Plum.

The top returner is Graidon Wilhour, a 5-11 junior, who started as a sophomore.

Coach Feezel, who is one win away from 300 in his career, mentioned some others who started or contributed on the varsity in 2024-25.

Six-foot senior Jaden Hughett started some contests as a junior.

Ryan Powell, a 5-11 senior, also got into some games as did twin brother 5-11 senior Lucas Powell.

Jack Wilhour is a 5-10 junior who moves up from the JV as will juniors Dodge Willms and Benji Lowe.

Calvin Veolker, a 5-8 junior, is a point guard in the making for the Eagles.

“We will be very inexperienced at the varsity level, but these kids will play hard and they like to play the game fast. I think by the first of the year we can have this team playing at a pretty nice level. It will take us a few games to figure out where everyone fits,” said Coach Feezel.

Mulberry Grove and head coach Sam Barber will need to replace some key figures from their 14-18 club.

Three senior starters are missing and a senior-to-be transferred out of the district, so there are new pieces that will need to be in place when the season starts for the Aces.

Logan Bauer, Aiden Walker and Landon Sugg were part of the roster graduation departure and Jackson Icenogle moved to Dieterich.

All added up that makes for some important preseason practices for Coach Barber to figure out some things.

The returning players include 5-9 senior point guard Hagan Henrichsmeyer and 6-1 senior guard Connor Hartmann.

This pair has the most experience coming back for this season.

Carson Caylor, a 6-5 sophomore, looks to move up into a starting spot along with senior Kruz Schlemer.

Among the others looking for playing time are 6-1 senior Lucas Epperson, 6-2 junior Braiden Walker, 5-9 sophomore Jackson Elam and 5-9 freshman Landon Cook.

The Aces won five of their last six regular season games before losing to North Clay in the first round of the regional at South Central.

“This is going to be a whole new team as we only have two players with any varsity experience on the team this year. We will be a young team rotating a lot of freshman and sophomores in the line up. The senior leadership from Hagan Henrichsmeyer and Connor Hartmann will determines this year’s team success. This years team will be focused on getting better everyday and trying to learn how to play like a team.,” said Coach Barber.

Patoka/Odin has a new head coach as former player Dylan Back takes over from Joe Eddy and will inherit a 9-18 team that didn't post a victory over a winning team last winter.

The Warriors lost to Altamont in the opener of the South Central Regional in the season finale.

Coach Back will need to replace five seniors but a key underclassman returns after being injured.

The seniors gone are Landon Robb, Reed Jourdan, Tyler Huffman, Jace Bodin and Camden Parrish.

Six-three junior Brady Cain has recovered from a pair of knee injuries and will be back in uniform in 2025-26.

Lincoln Roberts, a 5-11 senior, is back with a shot at reaching 1,000-points for his career with a good 2025-26.

Coach Back also mentioned 6-foot Kody Burks and 5-11 Brady Haines as ones to watch.

Seniors Ben Spencer and Easton Johnson are hold overs from last season's roster.

“All of my players are important, but we will be a younger squad that has a lot of upward potential as long as we stay healthy. We have battled injuries the past few years,” said Coach Back, who has been an assistant to Coach Eddy before moving up this season.

Martinsville lost a group of important seniors from last winter's club that produced an above .500 record and a first round regional win.

The Bluestreaks lost their top three scorers to graduation, five total seniors, from the club who lost to eventual sectional finalist Tuscola at the Chrisman Regional after defeating Tri-County.

Adam Parcel averaged 17.5 points a game, Kaiden Simmons added 13.1 points a night and Gavin Leloup produced 10.7 p.p.g.

That's a bunch of production missing for Coach David Graves to replace.

Guard Drake Brant is the only senior returning for Martinsville as the club will have a youthful look to them in 2025-26.

Gabe Griffin is a junior who is the top returning scorer at six-points a game.

Junior Jaxson Miller also added 5.9 points a contest as a sophomore.

Add junior Anthony Pierce to the list of returnees who have a bit of varsity experience.

The rest will be moving up.

Caden Wilhoit is another junior from the last season's JV.

The remaining part of the roster will consist of sophomores and freshmen, who are unproven.

The sophomore group consists of Lucas McCandless, Hunter Pitts and Maddix Finney.

Coach Graves added the names of five freshmen; Malachi Kraemer-Dixon, Bryce Wilhoit, Kayden Jenkins, Dayne Tingley, and Peyton Craig, to be added to this season's picture.

“We graduated a group of outstanding seniors last year and Gabe Griffin is out only returning starter,” said Coach Graves.