Mike DeGeorge, Head Coach

DeGeorge begins his fourth season as head coach of the Rams. His roster features two consecutive years of quality recruiting classes. “We have the talent to be successful. Our priority is to prepare these student-athletes to play with the proper maturity, focus and intensity,” he says.

DeGeorge previously served as head coach at Eureka College (Ill.), guiding the Red Devils from two wins (2000-01) to 17 wins (2003-04). DeGeorge served as the full-time recruiting coordinator at Grinnell ( Iowa) College in 1999-2000. The class he recruited eventually won two Midwest Conference championships and scored more than 6,000 career points.

Prior to Grinnell, DeGeorge formed his coaching philosophy as the top assistant for five seasons at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. Lawrence won the 1997 Midwest Conference championship — the school’s first since 1943 — and qualified for the school’s first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament. DeGeorge also coached at Beloit ( Wis.) College for one season with legendary coach Bill Knapton, who retired with more than 500 career NCAA Division III victories. DeGeorge started his coaching career at Marmion Academy in Aurora, Ill., where he was the sophomore basketball coach and varsity golf coach for one season.

A 1992 graduate of Monmouth (Ill.) College, DeGeorge was a member of the class with the most men's basketball wins in school history, posting a four-year record of 75-20. Those teams won a Midwest Conference championship, four Southern Division championships and made two trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament. DeGeorge also posted the lowest stroke average for the 1991 and 1992 golf teams at Monmouth. He earned a master's degree in education from Viterbo (Wis.) College in 1997.

DeGeorge and his wife, Christi, live in Mount Vernon with their son, Max, 5, and daughters, Maya, 3, and Morgan, 1.

Justin Decker, Assistant Coach

Decker begins his first season as assistant men's basketball coach at Cornell College. He is also in his first year as a recruiting coordinator for all the Rams athletic teams.

Decker, a 2005 Cornell graduate, played point guard and earned three varsity basketball letters at Cornell. He was a two-time academic All-Iowa Conference selection and team captain his senior season. As a sophomore, Decker played on the 2002-03 Rams squad which won 16 games, marking the most wins in a season since 1966-67.

Decker is a 2000 graduate of Independence High School, where he garnered all-conference honors his senior year. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Cornell and received a master's degree in sport management from Barry (Miami, Fla.) University in 2006. Decker was a graduate assistant for campus recreation at Barry during in 2005-06.

Decker taught and served as head varsity boys basketball coach at Riceville High School in 2006-07. He currently teaches in the Mount Vernon school district. Decker is engaged to Cate Johnson, a 2006 Cornell graduate.


Tom Conley, Assistant Coach

Conley begins his third season as an assistant men’s basketball coach. A native of Chicago, Conley graduated from Leo Catholic High School in 1963 before earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Loras College in 1967. He earned a master’s degree in English from Chicago State in 1972. From 1967-69 Conley was the head boys’ basketball coach at Delwood (Iowa) High School, where his team advanced to the state tournament in 1969. He spent one season as an assistant coach at St. Xavier University in Illinois before returning to the high school ranks at Oak Forest (Ill.) for five years. Conley has had coaching stops in Iowa at Alburnett, Anamosa and Cedar Rapids LaSalle high schools. Conley and his wife, Kathleen, live in Lisbon. They have four grown children.

Bob Black, Assistant Coach

Black is a graduate of Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Washington High School (1967), Lawrence University (B.S., 1971) and SUNY at Stony Brook (Ph.D., 1980). He was a member of the Lawrence Viking basketball team from 1968-71. Black, a professor of biology at Cornell, resides in rural Solon with his wife, Susan Peterson, and daughters Carmen and Maja.