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.
It's special how the staff came together when I came back to Unity. To have a staff full of Unity alums that in their own right, could all be great head coaches if they wanted to pursue that avenue. I'm very fortunate to have that. We've been together now for three years. The things they do behind the scenes never get enough credit. From getting guys in the gym to work out, to preparing a scout to help orchestrating all the functional things in the season like organizing a team meal and making sure that we've got such-and-such in the right place. I have a great staff. We delegate that all out, and everybody takes a role.
I think family's the best balance. As much as you want to be consumed by a bad loss, and what do we need to do, you don't have time for that. You've got a travel game at Mt. Zion early in the morning you got to be at, and you've got a junior high game on the road. It obviously takes a tremendous family, tremendous support. Like I said, family is kind of ingrained. It makes it even more special having your kids and your wife there. It just kind of all merges together. And it's just what you do. Words don't describe that. Obviously, family being the focal point of it all, the success on Friday and Tuesday nights make it a lot more fun.
It's unbelievable. I love Unity basketball. I've told that story a lot where my dad drug us to the Clinton Thanksgiving tournament, and we watched the one-win Unity team get their one win that season. I know the morning coffee talk groups will always have that debate of what group could be (the best), but, like I said, we talked a lot about this team. That was kind of our final discussion together as a team in that locker room as we got ready to play Chicago Farragut. Like, you have a chance to truly separate yourself and don't lose that opportunity. People don't realize how daunting that task was. When you think about how emotional that game against Manual was and the emotions you go through. It was a hard loss. It was a game that was just a great basketball game, back-and-forth in the fourth, and to lose that game and say you've got to come back and now you've got to play the next biggest game of the season. But giving that perspective that now you can go down as the best team in history, it just speaks to that group's poise to be able to do that. Just unbelievably grateful and thankful for being on that ride. I'll cherish the memories. It was just a special season.