Kankakee Times

After nearly 40 years leading the Olivet Nazarene University men’s basketball team, Ralph Hodge told the Kankakee Times that he’s learned to take things as they come.

“This is my 39th season in the league, and there haven’t been too many years where I go in thinking, ‘This is going to be a banner year’ or ‘This is going to be a bad year,’” Hodge said. “We try to take every year for what it is and work to become the best team that we can possibly be.”

ONU is coming off a 15-16 season, and Hodge said this year’s team has a lot more experience and he expects it to have a strong year.

“We are returning a solid group that has a lot of experience,” he said. “They weren’t necessarily ready for the experience. But they gained a lot of experience, and we’ve learned about dedication, perseverance and poise from those experiences.”

The Tigers will play a number of big games this year, including their season opener against the University of St. Francis. Hodge said while it is always nice to win some key games, it isn’t one of his focuses.

“It goes back to taking things moment by moment,” Hodge said. “If you focus on one or two games a year, it’s easy to forget about what you have to do this week. There are games that you kind of look forward to: the in-state games against Robert Morris-Illinois, the University of St. Francis and St. Xavier. But I just want the team to focus on each moment.”

The Tigers have a number of returning players, which Hodge things will help the team. He is excited to see how transfer student Luis Dominguez will do. Dominguez is a senior who transferred to ONU from St. Joseph’s College in Indiana. 

“Luis Dominguez, I think can be really good for us,” Hodge said. “He is coming here this year, and I think with a little work he can really do well for us.”

Hodge also said ONU has a strong core of returning players, including junior Josiah Blan and senior Chris Green. Last year, Blan was one of the top rebounders for ONU, pulling in 144 boards. Green has been one of the key players for the Tigers during the past three years and averaged nine points per game last season. 

One area Hodge wants to focus on going into the season is defense.

“We didn’t have any trouble scoring points last year,” Hodge said. “But we gave up a lot as well. That’s one focus going into practice before the season starts: We want to tighten up defensively and make it harder for opponents.”

ONU will get its season underway in late October against USF. Then the Tigers will hit the road and take on Columbia College and William Woods University at the Cougars vs. Cancer Tip-Off Classic in Columbia, Missouri. In November, they will host games against Indiana Institute of Technology, Governors State University, Aquinas College and Cardinal Stritch University. 

The regular season will wrap up in February, and the CCAC tournament will get underway on Feb. 21.