"We beat Augustana College (second in the conference the previous year) and then I realized that we were going to be great," Flores continued. "They were always very tough and they had a really good team. We were gradually getting better and enjoying all of the hoopla in the newspapers and on campus. It got more special every game as we were piling on the victories."

Flores had gone to high school just a few yards from the college - at Von Steuben High where he was an All-Section basketball player (he is now a member of the Chicago Public League athletic Hall of Fame). He fit in well at North Park, where his scrappy defense and occasional bursts of offense meshed nicely with an emerging group of scoring threats.

During his senior year, Flores scored a career-high 17 points in a victory over California State University-Hayward, which he called his top individual performance. But, like many on his team, the personal accolades paled to the team goals that were accomplished and the efforts made by other teammates. He remembered the consistent shooting of fellow classmate Tom Florentine, the impressive freshman year of point guard Michael Thomas and the improvement made by sophomore Modzel Greer among the reasons the Vikings became so successful.

"When you go back and look at it, it's really amazing that we won three championships in a row," he said. "There's always something that can happen and it only takes one bad game to blow it."

After graduating from college, Flores became a junior high school physical education teacher in Franklin Park, a Chicago suburb. He has been there ever since. He lives in Addison with his wife, Bari, and their three children. Although Flores said he hasn't played much basketball since college, he became a highly regarded high school and college referee - he officiated the Class AA state boys basketball tournaments in 1998 and 1999.