Craig Doty recently completed his first season as the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Rock Valley College. Doty came to Rockford with extensive coaching experience at the NJCAA, NCAA, and NAIA levels.

In his first season on the sidelines at RVC, Doty wasted little time establishing the program on a national level. Despite taking over on October 1, 2012, Doty led the Golden Eagles to only their second NJCAA national tournament appearance since the program started in 1965. RVC finished 7^th at the NJCAA DIII national tournament in Loch Sheldrake, NY, which included a tournament win over the #2 ranked team in the country, Rochester Community & Technical College.

Picked to finish last in Region IV in the pre-season poll, the Golden Eagles consistently improved throughout the season and stormed to a Region IV championship by beating Joliet Junior College 64-63 in the championship game. Despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the country which consisted of 15 NJCAA DI and DII schools, RVC finished with a 19-16 record and ended the season receiving votes in the national polls.

Following the 2012-13 season, Doty was recognized as Region IV Coach of the Year, District 2 Coach of the Year, and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Co-Coach of the Year.

Prior to his arrival at Rock Valley College, Doty served as an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at NCAA D2 University of Sioux Falls (SD).In 2011-12, Doty was an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Riverland Community College. Doty helped lead the Blue Devils to a 7-2 start, the best start in over a decade at the school.

Doty served as Interim Head Men's Basketball Coach at NJCAA Division I Central Wyoming College in 2011. With only one returner, Doty received nine commitments and recruited a roster that would go on to achieve a 20-11 record, the most wins in over 20 years at the school.

During the 2010-2011 season as the Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Central Wyoming College, Doty helped lead the Rustlers to a 17-15 record and the school's first Region IX Tournament victory since 1991. During his tenure at CWC, Doty coached three players who signed NCAA Division I scholarships including Bojan Mihajlovic (University of Texas-Arlington), Jonathan Mesghna (University of Maine) and James Johnson (California State-Fullerton).

A native of Alcester, South Dakota, Doty came to CWC after serving as an Assistant Coach at his Alma Mater Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. During Doty's tenure as a player and a coach at Morningside College, the Mustangs had a 56-37 record, made the Sweet Sixteen of the NAIA DII National Tournament, held a National Ranking of #10 in the country, and won a Great Plains Athletic Conference title.

After finishing his playing career, Doty spent one season as the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Akron-Westfield High School in Akron, Iowa. At A-W, Doty's squad won their last four games of the season including the first game of the District Tournament before bowing out to the eventual state champions.

Doty is a graduate of Alcester-Hudson High School. In his senior season, Doty set the school record for points per game in a season with an average of 25.5. His junior season, Doty led his squad to a 17-4 record and a number four ranking in the state of South Dakota.

Doty graduated from Morningside College with a Bachelor's Degree in English and a minor in Business Administration.

Assistant Coach: Steve Goers

Steve Goers joined head coach Craig Doty on the bench for the Golden Eagles at the start of the 2012-2013 season after retiring as coach of Boylan Central Catholic High School in 2011.

Goers was head coach at Boylan from 1980 through 2011 and led the Titans to 26 conference titles, 28 regional and 17 sectional championships, eight elite-eight appearances, and a state-record 30 consecutive winning seasons. He compiled a career record of 881-264 in his 39 seasons at five different high schools (Bardolph, Oswego, LaSalle-Peru, Harvard, Boylan), making him the second winningest coach in Illinois state history. This will be Goers' first college coaching job.

Coach Goers' primary duties for the Golden Eagles include assisting with practice and game management, opponent scouting, and recruiting coordinator for the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10).

Assistant Coach: Evan Lavery 

Evan Lavery enters his first season as an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at Rock Valley College.  Lavery's duties with the Golden Eagles include player development, strength and conditioning, day-to-day operations, academic monitoring, film exchange, scouting, and recruiting.

Lavery joined RVC following a one-year stint as an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at NCAA Division III Rockford College (IL).  While at Rockford College, Lavery was instrumental in the development of 2^nd Team All Northern Athletic Conference guard Scott Suchy.  In addition, Lavery was in charge of monitoring academics, on-campus visits, and assisted in recruiting with a primary focus on junior college recruits, the Chicagoland area, and the state of Indiana.

Lavery and Rock Valley College Head Coach Craig Doty are far from strangers.  Lavery joined forces with Midwest Elite Basketball three years ago, the largest basketball camp organization in the country, which is co-owned by Doty and Montana State University-Billings Assistant Coach Brad Schmit.  Doty had this to say about Lavery:

"I couldn't be more excited to have Coach Evan Lavery join my staff at Rock Valley College.  Evan is ambitious, a tireless worker, and has a love and understanding for junior college basketball.  He will be a tremendous asset to our program."

Lavery played two years at NJCAA Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois where he was a two-year starter and captain. In his sophomore season, he helped lead the Kougars to a 6th place finish at the 2010 NJCAA DII National Tournament. Lavery went on to finish his playing career at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri. A native of Dyer, Indiana, Lavery graduated from Lake Central High School in 2007. In his prep career, he was named an all-area selection by both the Northwest Indiana Times and the Post-Tribune.

Lavery graduated from Kishwaukee College in 2010 with an Associate of Science degree. He graduated from Central Methodist University in 2012 with a Bachelor's of Science in Education with a concentration in mathematics.