The News-Gazette's All-Area boys' basketball team: Franks wins Coach of the Year honor

Apr. 25—The 2025-26 Unity boys' basketball team notched the program's best-ever postseason finish by placing third in state amid a crowded Class 2A field. The Rockets were led by nine seniors, with Coleton Langdendorf, Dane Eisenmenger and Tyler Henry averaging double scoring figures during Unity's run to State Farm Center in Champaign. Third-year Unity coach Matt Franks dropped by The News-Gazette for a conversation with preps coordinator Zach Piatt about what keyed the team's magical run that ended with a 34-3 record.

You're just so appreciative to be a part of it. When you're in it, it's such a whirlwind of emotions. And it's one thing after another, and you really don't get to truly savor it because you're on to your next game. For example, against Teutopolis (on Friday, March 6) it was an unbelievable win. But we had a short turnaround. You've got a Monday super-sectional game, which is a bigger game, an even bigger stage. So, your mind right away is on Bishop McNamara and what we can do to get ready for that. So now that the dust is settled, just the general appreciation of what a special team, an unbelievable ride, and just how unbelievably grateful I'm to be a part of it.

I've been around Unity basketball my whole life and could tell you about all these great players. And then the players that I wasn't alive for, my family talked about the history at Unity. And to be able to say that this team has accomplished more than any other team before them. ... Looking at that trophy really sinks in. It just makes it so special, and just such a special team.

They're a special group in so many different facets. I've said this so much: They trust each other. When you look at the seven-game postseason run that we had, we had five different leading scorers, and it just speaks to their ability to trust each other. We never had a guy that forced too much because he felt like he had to do that for us to win. He had that faith in his teammates. And then it was always kind of that motto of trust and belief in each other, and they believed that they would create an opportunity for a teammate. That's what allowed that team to survive stretches. They were down and out at points and just kind of making a play for a teammate, which then would catapult into success. They're just such a unique group.

You've got a group of guys that are all going to play various college sports. Unity's had a lot of college baseball players. They've had college football players. They've had, obviously, Brian Cardinal. But they've been spread out. For that perfect storm of them to all be together in that group, and really to have been together for a really long time, you just don't see it.

We played early. Rochester and Teutopolis right out of the gate. A Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin team who obviously had a tremendous player in Keison Peoples. With a 14-game football season, there's all of that anxiousness that you have going into a season. You love to have that two weeks of prep time to really feel good about that first week of the season. We didn't have that. And again, I give those guys so much praise. The fact that they're able to literally, in 24 hours, basically flip the switch, and it's basketball season. We were rusty early on, absolutely. But they were able to battle through that rust because they were just so tough and so competitive, where their mistakes would be overshadowed. Because they would just compete through it.