Presenting: Northern Illinois MACwood Squares

MACwood Squares is our summer reading series on the best athletes in Mid-American Conference sports history. This week features Northern Illinois. Looking for your MAC school? Consult our schedule for other teams and please submit your nominees as well.

We're heavy on the football and basketball, yes, because not many non-revenue players stood out all that much. That and they just had some rather convincing players on the money sports that were hard to ignore.

After the jump is where you can disagree and scoff at the choices.

Kenny Battle (basketball)
DeKalb just wasn't large enough to keep him around.

Jim Bradley (basketball)
Ferocious rebounder, and a life all too short.

Ken Henry (golf/speedskating)
Just a pretty darn good golfer when he's not winning Olympic gold medals while on ice skates.

E.C. Hill (women's basketball)
An accomplished past in the college/WNBA ranks and a bright future in the coaching ranks.

George Bork (football/basketball)
The first quarterback ever to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. AND averaged 20 points a game on the hardwood. Center Square material right there.

LeShon Johnson (football)
The school's only Heisman finalist ever. Hell of a rusher. Plagued by injuries and eventually criminal charges.

T.J. Lux (basketball)
Shortest name in MACwood Squares lore. But NIU's all-time scorer and rebounder.

Jean Pankonin (badminton/basketball/field hockey/softball/tennis volleyball)
Varsity letterhog. (Also in the Illinois State University Athletics Hall of Fame.)

Michael Turner (football)
The best combination of dominance at the college and NFL levels.

This now concludes the Northern Illinois week. Next week features the Ohio Bobcats. Submit your candidates early by tweeting us at @HustleBelt or submit a FanPost making your case.