Illinois HS Basketball News: Issue 40

Week of April 4, 2021

Apr 06, 2021

After a sprint of a season, the newsletter and this writer took a week off to get some post-season stuff up on the site, catch up on life and decompress.

There’s never enough time for all the stories, research and reporting we want to do, but I’m excited for where this is going in the offseason and into a more normal high school season.

For now, we have a major week of offseason awards, commitments and even some 2022 recruiting. Many coaches have also stepped down, though I’m sure there are many more not included here.

Let’s get to basketball!

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Coaching Stories and News

De La Salle (Chicago) boys head coach Tom White is stepping down from his position after 26 seasons and 417 career wins. He will remain the school’s athletic director. Joe Henricksen with the story for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Aurora Central Catholic boys head coach Nate Drye is stepping down after 17 seasons and 235 wins, though he will continue to teach at the school. He cited wanting to watch his own children play sports. “Being a head coach is 365 days a year,” Drye told Rick Armstrong in the Aurora Beacon-News. John Lemon also wrote about the retirement for the Daily Herald.
Pekin head boys basketball coach Jeff Walraven resigned after eight seasons and 20 years in the program, Steve Stein reports for the Pekin Daily Times. Walraven reported family time as a key motivator; he leaves Pekin with a 95-111 career record.
Just before my last newsletter published, Rock Island boys head coach Thom Sigel announced his retirement. Tom Johnston wrote for the Dispatch-Argus about Sigel’s career and decision, including 502 career wins and state championships at Rock Island and Rock Falls. For the Herald-Whig, Matt Schuckman named Sigel a no-brainer for hypothetical Western Big 6 Mount Rushmore of coaches, but the tougher calls were in who else makes the list.

Season Wrap-Up Stories

For the Sun-Times, Joe Henricksen examines eight programs from around the Chicago area that exceeded expectations this season.
“Northwest Herald boys basketball statistical leaders” (Joe Stevenson).
“Northwest Herald girls basketball statistical leaders” (Alex Kantecki).

Awards

Finding historical award winners has been difficult across so many papers and sites. Even with this newsletter awards were suddenly spread across multiple issues.

So I put everything in one spot: statewide player of the year, regional player of the year and conference MVPs. The pages link to the original source so readers can see the full stories:

We also have 34 boys all-conference teams and 32 girls all-conference teams on the site — please send any missing lists my way.

Here are other all-state and all-area awards that were not included in the previous newsletter.

The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association’s Girls 1A/2A Teams and 3A/4A Teams.
Chicago Sun-Times all-city and all-area teams (Michael O’Brien).
Aurora Beacon-News/Courier-News Girls Basketball All-Area Team (Paul Johnson).
Daily Chronicle Boys Basketball All-Area Team (Eddie Carifio).
Daily Chronicle Girls Basketball All-Area Team (Eddie Carifio).
Daily Southtown Boys Basketball All-Area Team (Pat Disabato).
Joliet Herald-News Boys Basketball All-Area Team (Steve Soucie).
Joliet Herald-News Girls Basketball All-Area Team (Steve Soucie).
My Suburban Life Boys Basketball All-Area Team (Bob Narang).
My Suburban Life Girls Basketball All-Area Team (Joshua Welge).
My Web Times Boys Basketball All-Area Team (Brian Hoxsey).
My Web Times Boys Basketball All-Area Team (J.T. Pedelty).
Northwest Herald Boys Basketball All-Area Team (Joe Stevenson).
Northwest Herald Girls Coach of the Year (Joe Stevenson).
Northwest Herald Girls Basketball All-Area Team (Alex Kantecki).
Northwest Herald Girls Coach of the Year (Alex Kantecki).
Kane County Chronicle Boys All-Area Team (Jacob Bartelson).
Kane County Chronicle Girls All-Area Team (Jacob Bartelson).

Commitments

Hersey 2021 shooting guard Ethan Roberts committed to D-I Army.
Niles Notre Dame 2021 guard Jake DeFranza committed to D-II St. Edwards (TX).
Whitney Young 2021 Yasmin Mosi committed to D-II Mississippi College.
Collinsville 2021 power forward Nathan Hall committed to NAIA Briar Cliff (IA).
Kankakee 2021 guard Amarion Osborne committed to NAIA Governors State (University Park).
Pecatonica 2021 guard Jacob Allison committed to NAIA Judson.
Homewood-Flossmoor 2021 guard Kenton Pryor committed to D-III Augustana (Rock Island).
Mount Carmel 2021 guard Matt Hawkins committed to Augustana (Rock Island).
Ridgewood 2021 guard Ganon Greenman committed to D-III Monmouth.
Central Catholic 2021 guard Jadyn Ellison committed to D-III Monmouth.
Brother Rice 2021 wing Matt Murphy committed to D-III Ripon (WI).
Yorkville Christian 2021 guard Chase DiVito committed to D-III Central College (IA).
York 2021 guard Tyler Wildermuth committed to D-III Central College (IA).
Lyons 2021 point guard Cade Nelson committed to D-III Cornell College (IA).
Maine South 2021 guard Sean Gallery committed to D-III Knox College (Galesburg).
Rochelle 2021 guard Garrett Burdin committed to D-III Loras (IA).
Taft 2021 power forward Audrey Mendenhall committed to D-III Rockford.
Mt. Vernon 2021 shooting guard Carson Prost committed to juco Rend Lake (Ina).
Danville 2021 point guard Nathanael Hoskins will attend prep school at Lawrenceville School (NJ).
Roselle 2021 center Alex Burzawa will attend prep school at Feltrim.
Hillcrest 2021 small forward Jakobi Heady decommitted from Moraine Valley CC and has reopened his recruitment.
Waubonsie Valley 2021 Ben Schwieger told PrepHoops’ Scott Burgess that he remains committed to Loyola after its coaching change.
List of 2021 girls college commitments and 2021 boys college commitments.

Boys Recruiting News

We asked coaches around the state to submit unsigned seniors looking for colleges. College coaches, there are some great players among the list of 30+, with stats, GPA, awards and coaching notes. High school coaches, get in touch to have a player added.

St. Rita 2024 big James Brown received an offer from D-I Illinois.
Glenbard West 2022 shooting guard Caden Pierce received an offer from D-I Boston University.
Glenbard West 2022 power forward Braden Huff received an offer from D-I Penn.
Buffalo Grove 2022 wing Kam Craft received an offer from D-I Loyola Chicago.
Belleville West 2021 shooting guard Tommie Williams received an offer from D-II Lindenwood (MO).
Simeon 2021 small forward Dylan Ingram received an offer from D-II Maryville (MO).
Buffalo Grove 2021 guard Ethan Fong received an offer from NAIA Trinity International.
Mascoutah 2021 guard Braden Bryant received an offer from D-III Monmouth and juco Southeastern Illinois.
Moline 2023 point guard Brock Harding could be “the next up-and-coming basketball player from the Quad-Cities to play on the big stage,” writes Kedric Prince for the Dispatch-Argus. Harding averaged 16.5 points and 8.1 assists this season and has reported interest from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Marquette and others.
Annawan 2020 graduate Julian Samuels spent a prep year at Central Pointe Christian Academy in Florida. He holds a preferred walk-on offer from Illinois State and is still looking for the right fit, Terry Duckett reports for the Dispatch-Argus.

Girls Recruiting News

We also asked coaches around the state to submit senior girls looking for a college. There are currently nine players on the list, but get in touch to add a girl looking for a team.

Peoria Notre Dame 2024 point guard Mya Wardle received an offer from D-I Eastern Illinois.
Batavia 2024 point guard Brooke Carlson received an offer from D-I Central Michigan.
Lincoln 2024 point guard Kloe Froebe received an offer from D-I Harvard.
Libertyville 2023 guard Emily Fisher received an offer from D-I Illinois.
Richwoods 2022 guard Jada Davis received an offer from NAIA Arizona Christian.
St. Joseph-Ogden 2022 center Taylor Wells received an offer from D-III Eureka.
Waubonsie Valley 2022 point guard Lauren McKnight received an offer from D-III North Central (Naperville).
Wheaton Warrenville South 2022 guard Lily Huntzinger received an offer from D-III DePauw (IN).
Lincoln-Way East 2022 forward Maggie Grady received an offer from D-III Dubuque (IA).
Hinsdale Central 2022 forward Eleanor Monyek received an offer from D-III Dubuque (IA).
South Elgin 2022 guard Ella Winterhalder received an offer from D-III Dubuque (IA).
Downers Grove North 2022 guard Ryann Wendt received an offer from D-III Dubuque (IA).
Kaneland 2022 guard McKenzie Schueler received an offer from D-III Dubuque (IA).
Batavia 2022 guard Claire Nazos received an offer from D-III Dubuque (IA).
Cary-Grove 2022 guard Emily Lukowski received an offer from D-III Dubuque (IA).

Illinois Players in the Pros

Whitney Young 2020 graduate and Duke player DJ Steward announced he will enter the NBA Draft and sign with an agent.
Belleville West 2019 graduate and Ohio State player EJ Liddell announced he will enter the NBA Draft but not sign with an agent.

Illinois Players in College

Libertyville grad Drew Peterson reached the Elite 8 with USC. Jon Kerr spoke to him for the Kerr Report and Bob Narang spoke to him for the Lake County News-Sun.
“Loyola Academy alum Jordan Kwiecinski finishes freshman season at Drake with memorable experience in NCAA tournament.” (Michael Dwojak/The Record North Shore)
A list of all D1 men’s basketball players from Illinois.
A list of all D1 women’s basketball players from Illinois.

Illinois High School Basketball News

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