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University of Northern Iowa Basketball Team---2004 MVC Tournament Champions

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• In August, UNI picked up two quality commitments from 6'8 220 lbs PF Jermain Raffington from Urspring H.S. in Germany. Jermain comes to UNI from the same school that produced current UNI Panther Vince Polakovic. Jermain will add depth and athleticism to the post positions next year, due to the departure of Jon Godfread. UNI has also received a verbal commitment from Travis Brown, a 6'3 180 lbs SG from Richfield H.S. in Richfield, MN. Travis is a skilled three point shooter with sound defensive capabilities. Travis played this summer with Howard Pulley AAU, and is ranked as one of the top 10 seniors in the state of Minnesota. In addition to Brown and Raffington, Coach McDermott and the UNI Panthers have added a preferred walk-on in Dylan Grimsley. Dylan is Sioux City's all-time scorer, and a former 1st Team All-Stater in Iowa. Dylan will redshirt this year for the Panthers and have four years of eligibility. Congrats to Dylan, Travis, and Jermain!
• On Monday, June 28th, UNI received a verbal commitment in the 2005 recruiting class. 6'2 Mason Stewart from Waubonsie H.S. commited to the Panthers. Mason is an athletic guard who can put up numbers offensively. He was a 1st team All-Upstate Eight Conference player. He is currently ranked as the #24 prospect in Illinois by chicagohoops.com. Good luck Mason this upcoming year!
• Coach Greg McDermott has completed two thirds of what looks to be a very stellar 2006 recruiting class. Last year, Jordan Eglseder of Bellevue Marquette H.S. commited to the Panthers. Now, Kerwin Dunham of Bondurant-Farrar H.S. has also commited to the purple and gold. Kerwin was a SW Iowa Area 1st Teamer and averaged 20 points and 5 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Kerwin plays summer ball with Martin Bros. AAU team alongside Jordan Eglseder.
• UNI signed 6'8 Vince Polakovic from Urspring H.S. in Germany this spring. Vince is a member of the Germany A2 National Team squad. Vince will most likely play the power forward position for the Panthers and will look to help fill the void left behind by Matt Schneiderman. Congrats to Vince, and we look forward to seeing you in purple and gold next season.
• Congrats to the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champions. The 2003-04 Panthers were a special group this year. They overcame the adversity of starting out 2-3 to begin the year to finish the season 21-10. The Panthers saw their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990. Since the last time the site was updated (the Bradley game), the Panthers went on a 8 game winning streak that included wins over Wichita State (twice), Indiana State (on Larry Bird jersey retirement night), Drake, Illinois State, Southwest Missouri State, and 16th ranked Southern Illinois.
• The Panthers' tear ended in the NCAA 1st Round, as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets won 65-60. The Panthers played extremely well and represented the university, Missouri Valley Conference, Cedar Valley, and state of Iowa very well. The Panthers were down by 17 in the first half before the Panthers changed gears and went on a 15-2 run that started the second half. The Panthers led by 1 point in the second half, before the Jackets came back with big shots. The Panthers missed a shot to tie the ballgame with one second remaining, but the shot rimmed off the back iron.
• The Panthers' year was a great step in the right direction, as the future looks very bright. UNI looks to capitalize on it's recent success with strong recruiting classes for the 2005 and 2006 years. UNI is currently pursuing several top names among the midwest. Those names, found off of various websites, are located in the recruiting link below. Also, there is a new UNI message board. www.panthernation.com is the newest Panther message board for all Panther fans. Continue to check back with unihoops.com as the recruiting information continues to roll in and UNI moves into the post sesaon.

UNIHOOPS.COM Table of Content

UNI Team Page (UPDATED)
McLeodUSA Center-The New Arena (Page 3)
The '03-'04 Season Outlook (Page4)
Recruiting (UPDATED)
Scholarship Outlook (Page 6)
All-Time Statistical Page (Page 7)
Links of Interest
UNI website
Disclaimer/Statement

You can check out the latest information on recruiting by following the link above (Recruiting Info) to see who the Panthers are currently looking, at according to various internet sources.