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When it came to controversy, Crane basketball coach Anthony Longstreet created as many negative headlines as King's Landon Cox. The fact that Longstreet no longer is the coach at Crane shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who understands the politics of the Chicago Public League.
In the city, coaches serve at the behest of his high school's principal. The Chicago Board of Education rarely steps in to monitor disputes. And the Local School Council never does.
In Longstreet's case, he and Crane principal Richard Smith didn't get along. So Smith ousted Longstreet. No appeal. Longstreet knew the axe was going to fall. He didn't want to make waves because he still wants to coach in the Public League. He probably will, maybe at Dunbar.
Longstreet had a very successful career a Crane. He produced several outstanding players, including Sherron Collins, Will Bynum and Tony Allen, and took his 2005 squad to the state quarterfinals. He won more than 70 percent of his games.
Like Cox, he was controversial. He was widely criticized for his handling (or mishandling, as some argued) of Sherron Collins' recruiting. Many Illinois fans will go to their graves insisting that Collins gave Illini coach Bruce Weber a "silent verbal" before being influenced by former Illini coach Bill Self to go to Kansas, that Longstreet took illegal inducements to seal the deal.
Like Cox, Longstreet was accused of many things but never convicted of anything. Just a lot of irrational and unsubstantiated allegations published on the Internet or, in Cox's case, a book called "Raw Recruits" by Alexander Wolff and Armen Keteyian. The folks who made the charges, of course, will never be convinced they aren't true. But they never provide a shred of proof.
Success doesn't have anything to do with job security in the Public League. Cox was pushed out at King. And nobody in state history won more games in a shorter period of time than Cox. Longstreet was ousted. Jim Foreman, who coached Billy Harris at Dunbar, was unceremoniously jettisoned. After finishing third in the state tournament, Frank Griseto was forced out at Westinghouse.
Cell Phone Alerts
THE SCHOOL THAT HIRES ANTHONY LONGSTREET IS GETTING
A HIGH CALIBER COACH, WHAT HE DID AT CRANE WAS OUTSTANDING, HE STARTED IN THE BLUE, HE WON THE RED,
HE SENT HIS PLAYERS TO VARIOUS COLLEGES, HE WON THE
CHICAGO PUBLIC LEAGUE CHRISTMAS CHAMPIONSHIP, HE WON
THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LEAGUE CITY CHAMPIONSHIP, HE MADE
IT TO THE ELITE 8, HE WAS INDUCTED IN THE CHICAGO
PUBLIC LEAGUE HALL OF FAME!
ANTHONY LONGSTREET IN MY ESTIMATION IS A CLASS ACT, I
DON'T KNOW ABOUT ALL THIS CONTROVERSIAL STUFF, BUT I
DO KNOW THAT HE CHANGED THE LIVES OF ALL THE YOUNG MEN
HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO COACH!
FLORENTINO VALENZIA PLAYS IN PUERTO RICO!
WILL BYNUM PLAYS IN ISRAEL!
SHERRON COLLINS VISITED THE WHITE HOUSE LAST WEEK AND
MET PRESIDENT BUSH, WITH HIS CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM, THE
KANSAS JAYHAWKS!
TONY ALLEN IS A MEMBER OF THE EASTERN CONFERENCE
CHAMPIONS, BOSTON CELTICS!
LORENZO THOMPSON WILL GRADUATE FROM DEPAUL UNIVERSITY
NEXT WEEK!
ANTHONY LONGSTREET GRADUATED FROM CRANE HIGH SCHOOL,
AND HE DESERVES TO COACH AGAIN, HE IS A WINNER AND I
CONSIDER HIM A FRIEND!
TONY ALLEN IS A MEMBER OF THE CHAMPIONS OF THE NBA,
THE BOSTON CELTICS- CRANE HIGH SCHOOL!