North Central College Cardinals

Career Highlights: Winningest coach in program history with 312 wins in 18 seasons; Eight NCAA Division III Tournament appearances; Four-time CCIW Tournament Champions; Three-time CCIW Regular Season Champions; Three-time CCIW Coach of the Year; Achieved program’s first No. 1 national ranking; 2013 NABC Midwest Region Coach of the Year 

 

Todd Raridon set a new standard for the North Central College men’s basketball program, serving as the Cardinals’ head coach for 18 years and winning a program-best 312 games. In his second season, he guided the 2005-06 Cardinals to victory in the inaugural College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament Championship, earning the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the fifth time in program history. The Cardinals were crowned CCIW champions in 2010-11 before winning the conference regular season and tournament titles in 2011-12. The 2012-13 season saw Raridon guide North Central to its most successful season in school history with a 28-4 record, climbing all the way to No. 1 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, another program first. The squad began the season with 13 straight victories before winning the CCIW Tournament and making a run to the NCAA Division III National Semifinals, the deepest run in program history. He was named the NABC Midwest Region Coach of the Year for that season. From 2015-16 to 2019-20, Raridon led the Cardinals to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances.  During the 2019-20 playoffs, North Central knocked off the defending national champion UW-Oshkosh in overtime, thanks to a carefully crafted play drawn up by Raridon at the buzzer, before the remainder of the tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of his tenure following the 2021-22 season, his players had earned 43 All-CCIW, 25 All-Region and six All-America honors, while eight of the program’s 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and four CCIW Tournament championships came under his leadership. Raridon’s tenure as head coach overlapped with the successful playing careers of his sons Mitch ’09, Derek ’13 and Connor ’19.