Northern Kentucky University Athletics

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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Who were the all-time greats in Northern Kentucky University men's basketball history during the pre-Division I years? That's a tough question our panel of experts has tried to answer, and a list of the top 25 players is provided below.

NKU's new era of basketball begins this season in the Atlantic Sun Conference, as the Norse will compete at the NCAA Division I level for the first time. In the meantime, take a look at the list of the top 25 Norsemen of all-time.

LaRon Moore (1993-97) - Moore led NKU to a pair of NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional championships in 1996 and '97, and the Norse finished as national runner-up both seasons. Moore earned All-America honors as a senior after NKU posted a 30-5 record. He scored 35 points against Oakland (Mich.) in the 1997 Great Lakes Regional championship game to earn tournament most outstanding player honors. Moore, who set an NKU single-season record with 41 dunks as a junior, finished his career with 1,866 points and a Norse-record 859 rebounds.

Dan Doellman (1975-79) – The highest-profile recruit in NKU history, Doellman chose to stay close to home and averaged 18.6 points per game during his career. The Cincinnati native ranks No. 4 on the all-time NKU scoring list with 1,920 career points and No. 3 on the all-time rebounding list with 784. Doellman led NKU to the 1978 NCAA Division II Tournament - the first time in school history the Norsemen advanced to that event. An incredible outside shooter who played before the implementation of the 3-pointer in college basketball, Doellman also helped NKU defeat Division I Xavier in back-to-back seasons.

Derek Fields (1985-89) - Fields ranks No. 6 on the NKU all-time scoring list with 1,664 points (15.3 ppg). He was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year in 1989 after scoring an NKU single-season record 664 points (23.7 ppg). Fields also earned NCAA Division II third team All-America honors in 1989. During his senior season, he scored 39 points and dished out 11 assists to lead NKU to a 121-111 win at Kentucky State (box score). Fields made his final collegiate game a memorable occasion by pouring in 35 points, dishing out 10 assists and grabbing six rebounds as NKU posted a 124-118 win over Indianapolis (box score).

Steven Wright (2006-07) – Without question, Wright is the best one-season player in Norse basketball history. Wright played three years at Division I Bowling Green State before transferring to NKU for the 2006-07 campaign, and he made a major impact on Division II basketball. He averaged 16.8 points per game, collected 54 steals and dished out 106 assists as the Norse posted a 24-9 record, including a win against top-seeded Findlay (box score) during the NCAA Division II Tournament. The 6-foot-3 leaper was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year and capped his sensational one-year stay at NKU by being named first team All-American by Division II Bulletin.

Paul Cluxton (1993-97) – The greatest shooter in the history of college basketball is Paul Cluxton, and he has the statistics to back up that claim. Cluxton is the NCAA's all-time career leader in free-throw percentage at .934, and he set an NCAA record during the 1996-97 season by making every free throw he attempted (94-for-94). He became the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in free-throw percentage without missing from the line. Cluxton scored 1,495 career points, and he led NKU to NCAA Division II national runner-up honors in both 1996 and '97. In addition, Cluxton earned third team All-America honors in 1997, and he was named the most outstanding player of the 1996 NCAA II Great Lakes Region Tournament.

Jeff Stowers (1972-76) – One of the most exciting players in Norse history, Stowers helped transform a Northern Kentucky State College squad from obscurity in the early years into a regional power by leading the team to a 17-9 record his senior season. He scored 1,410 career points and averaged 17.4 ppg during his senior season. Stowers also shot 56.2 percent from the field as a senior and averaged 6.1 rebounds per contest. His junior year, Stowers poured in a team-leading 18.6 points per game and added 7.0 boards per contest against a schedule that included Xavier, Morehead State, Tennesse State, Tennessee-Chattanooga and New Orleans.

Richard Derkson (1971-75) – The go-to offensive player for Northern Kentucky State College's first team in 1971-72, Derkson poured in 1,927 career points. A four-year starter, he also averaged 6.5 rebounds per game during his career. Derkson scored 39 points against Rose-Hulman on Jan. 11, 1972, (box score) to establish a Norsemen single-game record that stood for 10 years. Derkson competed against many of the nation's most powerful small-college teams during his career, including Tennesse State, Tennessee-Chattanooga, New Orleans and Kentucky Wesleyan. He was a charter inductee into the NKU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997.

Shannon Minor (1993-1997) - A quick point guard with great shooting range from the outside, Minor played a major role in NKU's emergence as a national power. He helped the Norse win back-to-back regional championships (1996 and '97) by averaging in double figures his junior and senior seasons. During the 1995-96 campaign, Minor averaged 12.8 points per game and dished out 172 assists as NKU won the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region title for the first time in history. Minor finished his career with 1,230 points and 529 assists.

Craig Sanders (1998-2002) – NKU's all-time leading scorer with 2,007 career points, Sanders was a tremendous outside shooter with incredible range. He finished his career as the Norse's all-time leader with 356 3-point field goals, including 114 treys during the 2000-01 season. Sanders averaged 16.5 points per game during his career and capped his four-year stint at NKU by pouring in 20.3 points per contest as a senior. He was also named honorable mention All-American by Division II Bulletin in 2002 and is the only player in NKU history to reach the 2,000-point plateau. Sanders helped NKU earn berths in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2000 and '01.

Mike Hofmeyer (1977-81) – Hofmeyer scored 1,208 career points during his career, but he is best remembered for his last-second basket that gave NKU a stunning 59-58 upset over Xavier on Jan. 14, 1978 (box score). In that game, Hofmeyer tipped in a shot at the buzzer as NKU defeated the Musketeers for the first time in history. He also helped NKU post a 20-8 record that same season and advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in the program's history. Hofmeyer averaged 12.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game during his NKU career.

Tony Faehr (1975-78) – A three-year standout, Faehr was a tremendous rebounder and solid inside scorer. He averaged 9.8 rebounds per game in 1975-76 to go along with 14.8 points per contest. The 6-foot-5 Conner High School graduate helped NKU earn its first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament berth in 1977-78 with averages of 10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds. Playing against some of the best post players in the small-college ranks, Faehr more than held his own and finished with 952 points in three seasons. He also averaged 9.0 rebounds per game in his career and added 153 assists.

Brady Jackson (1979-83) – Jackson became one of the nation's top scorers at the NAIA level during his senior season and finished with 1,980 career points. He averaged a career-best 21.2 points as a senior and shot 53.4 percent from the field, leading NKU to a 22-7 record and a spot in the NAIA playoffs. Jackson tied the Norsemen's single-game scoring record on Jan. 5, 1982, by pouring in 39 points against Central State (box score). The Mount Healthy High School graduate was named NAIA honorable mention All-American in 1983.

Craig Conley (1997-2001) – One of the most talented guards to ever play at NKU, Conley finished his career as the Norse's all-time leader with 530 assists. The lightning-quick guard scored 1,502 career points and connected on 149 shots from 3-point range. Conley also recorded the only triple-double in Norse history on Feb. 3, 2001, when he scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 11 assists against Lewis (box score). A graduate of La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Conley owns the NKU single-game record for assists with 14 against Missouri-St. Louis on Feb. 22, 2001.

Cliff Clinton (1996-98) – A dominating center who helped NKU advance to the national championship game in 1997, Clinton scored 899 points in just two seasons. As a senior, the 6-foot-7 post player shot 64.8 percent from the field and averaged 15.6 points per game. Clinton pulled down 19 rebounds to lead NKU to a road win at Central State that season. He also blocked 125 shots in two seasons with the Norse, including 72 rejections as a junior. Clinton finished his career as NKU's all-time leader in field-goal percentage at .603.

Mike Kelsey (2001-05) – Kelsey's 50-point scoring barrage against Indianapolis (box score) on Jan. 2, 2004, is likely to remain an NKU single-game record for many years. Kelsey made nine 3-pointers and scored 39 points in the second half of that record-setting performance. An incredible shooter, Kelsey made 285 shots from 3-point range during his career. The Elder High School graduate also poured in 35 points – including seven 3-pointers - against SIU-Edwardsville during the 2005 GLVC Tournament semifinals to lead NKU to a 73-62 upset over the second-seeded Cougars. He finished with 1,595 career points and made 81.3 percent of his free throws. 

Brenden Stowers (1999-2003) – The son of former Norse great Jeff Stowers, Brenden Stowers earned All-America honors as a senior after leading NKU to its first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championship. Stowers averaged 16.2 points per game that season and was 187-for-226 from the free-throw line. He later earned most valuable player honors by leading NKU to the GLVC Tournament title in Evansville, Ind. Stowers finished his career with 1,311 points and led NKU to a No. 4 national ranking in the Division II poll as a senior.

Chris Wall (1985-89) – A superb leaper and versatile athlete, Wall averaged 20.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game as a senior. Wall and teammate Derek Fields (23.7 ppg) also became the first NKU duo to average at least 20 points per game during a season, and they were the nation's top 1-2 scoring punch in Division II. In his final game at NKU, Wall poured in 30 points against Indianapolis. Fields scored 35 in that contest, making it the last time two Norse netted at least 30 points in the same game. A three-year starter, Wall finished his career 1,367 points and shot 44.7 percent from the field.

Ken Noll (1973-75) – At 6-foot-3, Noll was known as the smallest center in America during his two years with the Norsemen. Despite facing a distinct height advantage in almost every game, the hard-working Noll averaged 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds his senior season. A transfer from Morehead State who always played with great intensity, Noll netted 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Division II national powerhouse New Orleans on Dec. 16, 1974 (box score). That New Orleans squad featured future NBA players Wilbur Holland and Wayne Cooper, but Noll dominated the game only to see the Privateers pull out a 97-94 win over the Norsemen. 

Dan Fleming (1981-85) – An outstanding performer in the clutch, Fleming scored 1,275 career points and made 86.5 percent of his free throws. Fleming's best season came as a senior, when he averaged 17.6 points per game and dished out a career-high 101 assists. As a junior, he converted 89.8 percent of his free throws (97-for-108). Fleming also helped NKU pull off a stunning 61-59 overtime upset at Evansville his junior season and later led the Norsemen past Division I opponent Tennessee State, 66-64, in Regents Hall (box score). In that game, Fleming scored 16 points as NKU upset the Tigers - the final Division I foe to visit Regents Hall for a men's basketball game.

Reggie Talbert (1993-96) – Talbert's presence on the inside allowed NKU to emerge as a Great Lakes Valley Conference champion and national title contender. The 6-foot-7 center blocked 67 shots as a junior and averaged 10.5 points per game as NKU captured the 1994-95 GLVC title. Talbert also shot 60.9 percent from the field and grabbed an average of 8.5 rebounds per game. As a senior, Talbert's ferocious defense helped NKU win the Great Lakes Region championship and advance to the NCAA Division II national title game. Talbert finished his career with 154 blocked shots.

Kevin Listerman (1995-2000) – A tenacious defensive player whose on-court intensity became legendary around the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Listerman helped NKU win a pair of regional championships. The Covington Catholic graduate stepped into the starting lineup midway through his freshman season and directed the Norse to a 25-7 record and a national runner-up finish. Listerman's defense against Southern Indiana All-American Stan Gouard in the regional title game was a major factor during NKU's 99-87 victory. Listerman finished his career as NKU's all-time leader with 304 steals, and his 501 assists are No. 3 in school history. 

Dennis Bettis (1975-79) – The ultimate point guard and a fierce competitor, Bettis dished out 390 career assists. He led the Norsemen to their first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament berth during the 1977-78 season by dishing out 112 assists and averaging 8.0 points per contest. Bettis was the NKU floor general who specialized in defense, outstanding passes while leading the break and tremendous judgment. His senior year was cut short by injuries, but the Cincinnati native still finished with 604 career points.

David Marshall (1990-92) – Marshall played two seasons for NKU and led the Norse in scoring twice, with a 16.1 average as a junior and 18.9 as a senior. He poured in 994 career points (17.4 ppg) and shot 52.1 percent from the field. Marshall also tied a school record on Jan. 4, 1992, when he scored 39 points against Indianapolis. The 6-foot-4 forward averaged 6.4 rebounds per game in his two years and made 83.2 percent of his free throws. In addition, Marshall connected on 43 shots from 3-point range as a senior (.462) and collected 47 steals and a team-leading 14 blocks.

Ryan Schrand (1991-1995) – An outstanding shooter, Schrand scored 1,329 career points and helped NKU win its first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season title in 1995. A versatile guard, Schrand also dished out 341 career assists and made 238 3-pointers. He scored 19 points as NKU held off Southern Indiana, 101-97 (box score), in a key late-season victory as a senior, and followed that two days later with a 24-point performance as the Norse defeated Kentucky Wesleyan, 100-99 (box score), in triple overtime to claim the GLVC championship.

Todd Svoboda (1989-92) – Svoboda played three years at NKU before transferring to the University of Kentucky to complete his engineering degree. The Princeton High School graduate made an impact at NKU by grabbing 770 career rebounds (9.1 rpg), including a single-season record 10.9 boards per contest as a junior. Svoboda also averaged 18.1 points per game as a junior and finished with 1,114 points in his three years.

Be a part of the new era of NKU basketball this season as the Norse begin their Division I journey. Call (859) 572-7894 for information regarding season tickets.