Carroll College Athletics

A high school basketball star and track school record-holder from Beach, North Dakota, Joe Niece played 1¼ seasons at center on the Hilltop, where he was among the team’s top scorers, rebounders and defenders. After a slow start, he completed his freshman season as the Saints’ no. 2 scorer, netting 104 points, which ranked tenth in the conference. 

Joe paced the squad in scoring in 4 of the last 6 games, highlighted by a 21-point effort in the 60-45 win over Dillon’s Montana Normal. That spring, he practically single-handedly led the Saints to a tie for the Conference track & field championship, sweeping the 100 and 220 yard dash titles, and placing runner-up in the low hurdles and high jump. Niece reported to the North Dakota National Guard in January 1941, prior to serving as a highly decorated B17 bomber pilot in WWII.