Benedictine University Men's Basketball

Jordan Townsend has served as the head coach at Benedictine University for the last two seasons. Taking over on an interim basis in 2022, Townsend had the interim tag removed less than halfway through his first season. Benedictine has seen instant success under his guidance with the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and D3hoops.com Central Region Rookie of the Year along with four all-conference performers. Using defense as a staple, Benedictine has ranked first and second in opponent field goal percentage in the two years with Townsend. Townsend arrived at Benedictine as the top assistant for a year after serving in the same role at his alma mater, University of Dubuque since 2016. Dubuque was ranked seventh in the D3hoops.com poll during the 2021 season and led the nation in three-point percentage while winning the conference title in the American Rivers Conference. Townsend also owns time in the NACC after working as the top assistant at Rockford in 2015-16. Rockford posted their first winning season in six years. Additionally, Townsend served as the head strength and conditioning coach. Townsend began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Dubuque from 2013-15 following his playing days. The team finished 44-11 in those two years, winning 23 games in 2014-15 to set the program record. Townsend was a starter on the 2013 team that reached the NCAA Tournament and led the team in assists.

Rhode enters his first season on the coaching staff in 2024-25. Rhode logged a decorated college career at Elmhurst. A four-year letterwinner, Rhode is the all-time assist (510) and scoring (2,139) record holder at Elmhurst and was the CCIW Freshman of the Year in 2018, a first-team all-conference pick in 2019, 2020, 2021. Rhode was also a first-team All-region choice in 2020 and 2021 and a  fourth-team All-American in 2020 and second-team All-American in 2021.  

Frank Janczak joined the Eagles program as an assistant men’s basketball coach in 2002 and began heading up the Benedictine golf program in 2005. Janczak brought an immediate air of enthusiasm to the Eagles program, guiding the Eagles into their new league affiliation in the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC). In his first season at the Eagles’ helm, Janczak’s team finished in fifth place in the NAC and had an all-conference golfer and “Rookie of the Year” with then freshman R.J. Schwalbach. In 2007, Benedictine’s team rolled to a surprising second-place finish in the NAC tournament. The team earned two all-conference finishes including Andrew Delaney’s tie for third place. 2007 was also a special season for Benedictine University golf as Janczak laid the foundation for the Eagles’ first-ever efforts in fielding a women’s team. Lori Puchalski became the first female to represent the Eagles’ program, participating in the Elmhurst Invitational on September 18. Janczak has more than 20 years of experience on the bench as either a head coach or assistant coach at the college level, and has already helped the Eagles to three winning seasons and an NCAA Division III tournament appearance in basketball. He will serve as one of the team’s junior varsity coaches in addition to other duties in basketball. Janczak began his coaching career at North Central College. During his 12-year tenure at his alma mater, Janczak helped the Cardinals to four College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) basketball titles. A coach under Bob Bray (a 1979 graduate of then-Illinois Benedictine College), Janczak was responsible for a variety of duties during his tenure at North Central, including scouting, film breakdown and recruiting. A 1984 graduate of North Central, Janczak also served as the head men’s basketball coach at fellow Northern Athletics Conference school Dominican University for two years. He is a senior financial accountant/manager and resides in Naperville, Ill., with wife Kerry and their three children (Tyler, Kyle and Jamie).