Illinois HS Basketball News: Issue 43
May 3 through May 17
Welcome back to the newsletter. I’ve spent the last few weeks working on a fairly big project (more on that later).
It’s the end of the school year, and we’re seeing a flurry of college commitments and signings, though there are still dozens to go and some really talented unsigned players.
Many of the high-profile jobs have been filled, but certainly not all of them. I’m sure we’re not even close to having all the openings listed, especially when it comes to Chicago Public League.
Let’s get to basketball!
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Bogan Boys Head Coach Arthur ‘Goodie’ Goodwin Dies
Chicago lost a major basketball figure on Friday, May 14 as Bogan boys head coach Arthur Goodwin died at age 54. News of his health emerged earlier in the week, and you could feel the emotion from the potential loss across social media.
Current and former players, fellow coaches and other figures in the basketball community mourned this week. I didn’t know ‘Goodie,’ but you could tell immediately that he touched the lives of so many young players, that he was a real influence in their lives.
“It wasn’t just the basketball players he cared about,” Bogan assistant Mark Lester told Michael O’Brien in his Sun-Times story. “He was in that school every day, engaged with students, teachers and staff. When there was a problem, people would go to him. He knew how to lead, move things along.”
Goodie went 258-81 in 12 seasons for Bogan, which was never a powerhouse before.
Other Coaching Stories
We’ve been tracking all the coaching changes this offseason. Here are the 55 coaching changes tracked thus far.
Marmion boys head coach Tony Young has accepted the same job at Fenwick. James Kay has the story for the Wednesday Journal.
Darrelynn Dunn was named girls basketball coach at Normal West. He spent the last three years as the Prairie Central head coach and had a 61-38 record. (Randy Reinhardt/The Pantagraph)
Brian Rea leaves Payson-Seymour’s boys basketball program to take over helm of Palmyra boys basketball program in Missouri. He went 256-85 over 12 seasons. Matt Schuckman has the story for the Herald-Whig.
“Buffalo Tri-City girls basketball coach Tony Nika to make switch to boys basketball at Riverton.” (Bill Welt/State Journal-Register)
For the Sun-Times, Joe Henricksen wrote about the new hires for De La Salle, Fenwick, Waubonsie Valley, Marist, Conant, Prospect and Lincoln-Way West.
“Four coaching moves so far this Peoria-area high school basketball offseason” including Pekin, IVC Dee-Mack. (Adam Duvall/Peoria Journal-Star)
Kim deMarigny recently stepped down as Maine West girls head coach to be closer to family. She took a coaching job in Tennessee, Dion Martorano reported for the Journal & Topics.
Commitments
We’re up to 172 2021 boys college commitments and 158 2021 girls commitments.
No boys commitments yet for 2022, but eight 2022 girls commitments are already in the books.
“Galesburg High School senior Demarco Harden will continue basketball career at St. Ambrose.” (Matthew Wheaton/The Register-Mail)
Recruiting News
With a few weeks to spare before the summer recruiting period, I finished a project I’ve been working on for a while: I’ve gathered all the offers I could find for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 classes. I went through all the previous newsletters, looked at scouting sites and scoured Twitter.
What we’ve got so far:
2022 boys: 156 offers for 40 players
2023 boys: 54 offers for 19 players
2024 boys: 21 offers for 9 players
2022 girls: 260 offers for 67 players
2023 girls: 135 offers for 14 players
2024 girls: 22 offers for 9 players
There’s no way I’ve got all the offers out there. Submit an offer here any time.
Illinois Players in the Pros
“[Naperville Central Graduate] Candace Parker scores 16 points in her Chicago Sky debut in a 70-56 win: ‘It felt like home. It really did.’” (DeAntae Prince/Chicago Tribune)
Illinois Players in College
At least 61 men from Illinois high schools entered the transfer portal. 34 have a new school so far.
On the women’s side, 35 entered the portal and 22 have committed to a new school.
TF South star Brandon Johnson will play his final college season at DePaul after transferring from Minnesota. Henricksen has the story for the Sun-Times.
“Ben Coupet Jr.’s journey from Simeon freshman phenom to SIU,” Henricksen also wrote.
Maine West 2020 graduate and Illinois Ms. Basketball Angela Dugalic will transfer from Oregon to UCLA. She said her mental health factored into the choice in a report by Bob Narang for the Daily Herald.
Corry Irvin left her head coaching position at NAIA St. Xavier for an assistant position at Illinois. “I always wanted to get back to the Division I level if the right opportunity presented itself,” Irvin said to Tim O’Brien at the Beverly Review.
Other Stories and News
The Carbondale Holiday tournament will end after 56 years, citing low attendance, reports Section 618. Carbondale and Marion will cohost a new tournament called the Route 13 Christmas Classic.
TY Johnson, a DePaul prep senior headed to play at Loyola, and TaKiya “TK” Howard, a De La Salle Institute student signed with Murray State, were both injured in a drive-by shooting in Chicago, the Sun-Times reported.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) approved use of shot clocks in high school basketball. The IHSA follows the the NFHS, and had been waiting on the NFHS to take the lead on shot clocks even though they are overwhelmingly popular with coaches in the state. J.T Pedelty wrote about the recommended guidelines for Shaw Media.
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