Illinois HS Basketball News: Issue 41
April 6 through April 13
Even with no games we have a loaded newsletter with loads of coaching changes, transfer portal news, college commitments and recruiting.
Let’s get to basketball!
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St. Joseph to Close
St. Joseph, a Catholic high school in Westchester, announced Tuesday that it is closing at the end of the 2020-21 school year. It marks the end of one of the state’s great basketball programs.
As Michael O’Brien detailed for the Sun-Times, the boys program rose to greatness under legendary coach Gene Pingatore, who died in 2019. He won 1,035 games over 50 years to become the winningest boys coach in state history, and won two state titles over that time. According to Nesto Hoops on Twitter, the program started in 1962-63 and was 1,118-507 all time.
NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas and former No. 3 draft pick Evan Turner were its most famous alumni, and many more former Chargers played high-level college basketball and/or are coaching at various levels.
Personally, St. Joe was involved in some of my most memorable coverage for the Pioneer Press, including a girls game in 2017 that featured a fight and a game-winner and a 2017 boys overtime loss to Fenwick and a freshman DJ Steward in the CCL title game. I’ll always look back fondly on nights in that golden gym and how willing coach Pingatore was to chat with me like he wasn’t a legend.
That experience seems to be common, as Mike Clark shared similar sentiment.
If you’re looking for a dose of nostalgia, “Hoop Dreams” is included on HBO Max (confirmed) or Hulu (Google says), or can be rented on Amazon or YouTube.
Coaching Hires
Brad Rathe was named the new Prospect boys coach after 14 years as an assistant with the program. (Daily Herald story)
Tim Swanson was named the new Aurora Central Catholic boys coach. He was previously an assistant at Batavia, Jake Bartelson reported.
Andrew Schweitzer was hired as the new boys coach at Waubonsie Valley, per WVTV on Twitter. He was previously the sophomore coach at Wheaton Warrenville South.
Jake Sottos was hired as the new boys coach at Monmouth-Roseville. He was an assistant and played for previous coach Chuck Grant, per James Taylor on Twitter.
Coaching Changes
Fenwick boys coach Staunton Peck stepped down “citing personal reasons” after three seasons as head coach, Fenwick announced in a press release.
Marist announced on Twitter it was seeking a new boys head coach. Tim Trendel had been the head coach since 2018.
Lincoln-Way West boys coach Brian Flaherty resigned, Kaleb Carter confirmed on Twitter.
Conant boys coach Jim Maley stepped down “citing his battle with depression,” writes Dick Quagliano for the Daily Herald.
Hoffman Estates boys coach Luke Yanule resigned “to take care of his elderly father,” Quagliano wrote reported for the Daily Herald.
Bloomington boys coach Justin Walker resigned after two seasons. Bloomington was 1-11 this past season, Jim Benson reports for The Pantagraph.
Glenwood boys head coach Todd Blakeman retired after 16 seasons as the winningest coach in school history, the Chatham Clarion reported.
Jeff Johnston resigned as Athens boys coach after nine seasons. “The call of retirement and Florida was too strong for Jeff Johnston to ignore,” Ryan Mahan reports for the State Journal-Register.
“Todd Blakeman resigns as Chatham Glenwood's all-time winningest boys basketball coach.” (Bill Welt/State Journal-Register)
End-of-Season Awards
We’ve been tracking the statewide, regional and conference award winners all year:
New awards this week:
The IBCA announced its 1A/2A and 3A/4A boys all-state teams.
News-Gazette Girls Player of the Year: Erin Houpt, Coach of the Year, All-Area First Team and complete team. (Colin Likas)
Dispatch-Argus boys Quad-Cities All-Western Illinois team (Terry Duckett) and All-Metro team, (Tom Johnston & Matt Coss) and girls Quad-Cities All-Western Illinois team. (Terry Duckett)
The 2021 Daily Journal Boys All-Area Team and Girls Team. (Mason Schweizer and Cody Smith)
Illinois Players in College
Transfer portal season continues this week. By my count: 58 men from Illinois are in the portal, with 14 committing to new schools, and 27 women are in the portal with nine committing.
Men’s Transfer Portal list and Women’s Transfer Portal list.
Bolingbrook graduate Joseph Yesufu lands at Kansas after two seasons at Drake. (Story: Steve Soucie/Joliet Herald News)
Maine West graduate Rachel Kent will transfer from St. Louis to IUPUI. (Story: Dion Martorano/Journal & Topics)
Evanston 2019 graduate Jaheim Holden committed to D-I UMass Lowell after playing for juco Barton.
Kenwood 2019 graduate Tamara Nard committed to Houston after playing for juco Butler.
“Few seemed to notice Addie Budnik at Highland Park. The Atlantic 10 rookie of the year doesn’t have that problem at Richmond.” (Bob Narang/Lake County News-Sun)
Marist: St. Xavier University junior and Marist grad Claire Austin was named a NAIA Third Team All-American. (Tim O’Brien/Beverly Review)
A list of all D1 men’s basketball players from Illinois.
A list of all D1 women’s basketball players from Illinois.
Commitments
One of my favorite stories of the week was Jeff Vorva’s feature on Brother Rice senior Matt Murphy for the Daily Southtown. Murphy sat out his senior season to help his grandfather, who recently died after battling pancreatic cancer. Murphy lost his final year of prep hoops and put a college basketball career in jeopardy, but now he’ll play at D-III Ripon in Wisconsin next season.
Former Kankakee wing AJ Storr (2022) committed to Illinois. Stories from Zain Bando at Fansided,
York 2021 point guard Jeffrey Grace committed to Arizona State as a preferred walk-on.
Neuqua Valley 2021 shooting guard Connor Davis committed to D-II Quincy.
Simeon 2021 power forward Dylan Ingram committed to D-II Maryville.
Lincoln-Way West 2021 small forward Connor Jenkins committed to D-III UW-Oshkosh.
Oswego East 2021 guard AJ Johnson committed to D-III Carthage.
IVC 2021 guard Mac Parmelee committed to D-III UW-Platteville.
Plainfield East 2021 wing Michael Landa committed to D-III North Central.
Joliet West 2021 guard Jamari Ward committed to D-III Dubuque.
Waubonsie Valley’s Ben Schwieger remains committed to Loyola after Drew Valentine replaces Porter Moser, Rick Armstrong writes for the Aurora Beacon-News.
Former St. Laurence guard Ismail Habib — 2021, who transferred out of state before his senior season — reopened his recruiting after Austin Peay’s coaching change.
List of 2021 girls college commitments and 2021 boys college commitments.
Transfer News
Evanston 2022 wing Lola Lesmond is playing her senior season at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. She is one of the state’s top-ranked juniors and holds many D-I offers.
Boys Recruiting News
Reminder that we have a list of 30-plus unsigned seniors looking for a college.
St. Rita 2024 forward Morez Johnson received an offer from Nebraska.
Whitney Young 2023 point guard Dalen Davis received an offer from Kansas.
Homewood-Flossmoor 2023 forward Miles Rubin received an offer from Northern Illinois.
Homewood-Flossmoor 2023 forward Wesley Rubin received an offer from Northern Illinois.
Yorkville Christian 2022 shooting guard Jaden Schutt received an offer from Minnesota.
Buffalo Grove 2022 shooting guard Kam Craft received an offer from South Carolina.
Normal Community 2022 power forward Zach Cleveland received an offer from Illinois State.
Curie 2019 shooting guard Justin Harmin (Barton CC) received an offer from D-I Coastal Carolina.
Washington 2021 forward Devon Vanderheydt received an offer from D-II Lewis.
Mascoutah 2021 point guard Braden Bryant received an offer from D-III Greenville.
Carmel Catholic 2021 power forward Coby Brame received an offer from D-III Dominican.
St. Rita 2024 big man James Brown received an invite to attend the USA Basketball U16 Junior National Team Training Camp. Tim O’Brien has the story for the Beverly Review.
Girls Recruiting News
Reminder that we have a list of unsigned seniors looking for a college.
Butler College Prep 2024 guard Xamiya Walton received offers from Illinois, Ohio State and Cincinnati.
Neuqua Valley 2024 guard Caitlin Washington received offers from Illinois and Ohio State.
Lincoln 2024 guard Kloe Froebe received an offer from Illinois.
Stevenson 2022 guard Simone Sawyer received an offer from Butler.
Example Academy and former Marian Catholic 2023 guard Brianna Hill received an offer from St. Louis.
Example Academy and former Mother McAuley 2022 forward Faith Okorie received an offer from Coppin State.
Washington 2022 guard Georgia Duncan received an offer from NAIA Olivet Nazarene.
Lake Park 2022 point guard Sara Balli received an offer from D-III Benedictine.
Rolling Meadows 2022 guard Emily Galvan received an offer from D-III Elmhurst.
Providence Catholic 2022 guard Megan Duzansky received an offer from D-III Dubuque.
Normal Community 2022 wing Karleigh Creasey received an offer from D-III Dubuque.
Sycamore 2022 wing Ella Shipley received an offer from D-III North Park.
Geneva 2022 forward Zosia Wrobel received an offer from D-III Carroll.
Illinois Players in the Pros
Morgan Park graduate Ayo Dosunmu entered the NBA Draft and signed with an agent. Current mock drafts project him
Lincoln Park graduate Terrence Shannon, Jr., a Texas Tech guard, entered the NBA Draft but did not sign with an agent.
Fenwick graduate Mike Smith, a Michigan and former Columbia guard, entered the NBA Draft with plans to sign with an agent.
Other Stories and News
Hirsch hall of fame coach Charles Stimpson — who won the 1973 state title — died, according to the IBCA.
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