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Joe Henrickson, editor and publisher of City/Suburban Hoops Report, has been observing, scouting and evaluating high school basketball talent in Illinois since the 1989-90 season. Here are his selections as the top 10 teams of his era:
1. King 1990: Without question the most dominating team during my time. They just dominated, beat people up. Jamie Brandon became only one of five players in state history to score more than 3,000 points in his career.
2. Proviso East 1991: Had the Big Three of Donnie Boyce, Michael Finley and Sherrell Ford but was also deep with underclass guys like Kenny Davis, Jamal Robinson and Ray Gay who went on to win a state title the following year.
3. Peoria Manual 1997: Sergio McClain, Frankie Williams and Marcus Griffin led the best of Manual's four straight state title teams.
4. Whitney Young 1998: This was a terrific year for high school basketball in the state and the Dolphins, led by Quentin Richardson, didn't lose to a single team from Illinois.
5. Thornton 1997: Only a great Peoria Manual team prevented Melvin Ely (NBA), Napoleon Harris (NFL), Antwaan Randle El (NFL) and Erik Herring (college basketball) from being talked about as one of the state's all-time great teams.
6. Simeon 2007: This Derrick Rose-led team was special and the best of the recent state champions from the Chicago Public League.
7. King 1993: The Twin Towers of Thomas Hamilton and Rashard Griffith had no competition in the state.
8. Farragut 1995: How did this team lose with Ronnie Fields and Kevin Garnett?
9. Westinghouse 2000: They were upset by West Aurora in the state final but it was a dynamite team led by Cedrick Banks.
10. West Aurora 2000: Yes, they beat Westinghouse for the state title but if you ask me today which team was better, I still say Westinghouse would win eight out of 10 from West Aurora.
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THE ANSWER TO NUMBER 8 IS TAI STREETS AND THE REST OF THE THORNTON WILDCATS, AND THE FACT THAT WOLF NELSON WAS ALLOWING KEVIN GARNETT TO PLAY BIG GUARD DOWN IN CHAMPAIGN, ROCKY HILL'S BOYS WERE UP FOR THE TASK AND GOT THE JOB DONE!
I REMEMBER BEING AT THE SUPER-SECTIONAL AND GARNETT AND THE FARRAGUT COACHING STAFF WERE THERE SCOUTING THEIR FUTURE OPPONENT, TAI STREETS PUT ON A SHOW THAT NIGHT AND HE WAS STELLAR DOWNSTATE AS WELL!