Campus News

by Kyle Fritz, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications 

Rockford University’s junior and Men’s Basketball forward Kevin Diemer surpassed another career milestone this past season, when he scored his 1,000th career point in the Regents’ 74-64 win at Benedictine University. Kevin is no stranger to achieving career milestones however, as he is also in the men’s basketball record book for grabbing his 500th career rebound in the 2021 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament (NACC) Championship game at Wisconsin Lutheran College. 

Currently, Kevin is one of only 17 RU men’s basketball players with 500 career rebounds, one of only 26 players with 1,000 points and one of only 15 players in program history with both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. All of these accomplishments put him among some of Rockford’s best players, as he currently sits 21st on the all-time scoring list with 1,081 points and 12th in the all-time rebounding list with 659 boards.

“It was a really awesome experience to be able to reach that milestone, and what made it even more special was that it came in the most important win of our season thus far,” Kevin said, when asked about reaching 1,000 points. “My teammates truly are the best, and I want to thank them for helping me along the way. They really made it a special night for me, and I could not be more grateful for them.”

Kevin is not the only Diemer to make both of these lists. His older brother Tony accomplished both of those feats just a few years prior. Tony joined the 1,000 point club with a 26-point effort at Edgewood College back on January 23, 2018. Tony then joined the 500 rebound club ten months later with 10 rebounds in the Regents’ opening game of the 2018-19 season at Carroll University. Both of these were special moments for the Diemer family, as Kevin played alongside his brother during each of those seasons and was able to watch him hit both career milestones.

Tony finished his career fourth on Rockford’s all-time scoring list with 1,650 points and tenth in program history with 679 rebounds. However, Kevin is close to surpassing both of Tony’s marks and still has another year of eligibility remaining. Kevin currently needs just 569 points and 21 rebounds to vault ahead of his older brother on Rockford’s career scoring and rebounding lists. No matter who ends up on top though, Kevin and Tony have already made history as the first pair of brothers to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds at Rockford University.

“Our entire childhood we competed in any way we could, which really helped both of us get better in the long run,” Kevin said. “I know I would not be the competitor I am today without him.” 

The 2022-23 men’s basketball team qualified for the NACC Tournament by winning their final four NACC games of the regular season against Benedictine, Lakeland, Aurora and Illinois Tech. Those four wins sent the Regents to the conference tournament for the third straight year and for the fourth time in the last five years. 

The Regents entered the 2023 NACC Tournament as the number six seed, but unfortunately came up short in their first round game at third seed Marian University. Despite the postseason loss, Rockford still had an outstanding season. Rockford finished with a 13-11 overall record, marking the third straight year the Regents have posted a winning record, which is the longest such streak in 20 years. 

This story was originally published the Spring/Summer 2023 issue of Catalyst.