March 2010 Archives

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are aware that Curtis K. Jackson is a frequent contributor. He has a lot to say and he says a lot. But who is Curtis K. Jackson and why are we devoting an entire blog to defining him?

Jackson is a 1983 graduate of South Shore High School in Chicago. He played basketball, dropped out of Iowa Wesleyan after a year-and-a-half, attended a junior college for a year, then decided to get involved in journalism.

"I loved basketball but I loved the issue of basketball, the opportunity that basketball gave a person, to give him exposure and to use it meaningfully for a college education," he said. "I like to cover a game and see a kid who could play at a small college and do a story on him."

Random thoughts:

When I launched my blog, I established a policy -- all postings that didn't include a legitimate return e-mail address would be deleted. I vowed I would respond to all readers, whether we agree or disagree, as I did during a 50-year career in newspaper journalism. I always have felt that it is beneficial to carry on an intelligent and rational dialogue with those who take the time to comment on my opinions. And so we shall, as long as you play by the rules.

It isn't too late to return to the two-class format in boys basketball. Marty Hickman, executive director of the Illinois High School Association, said at the outset of the four-class experiment that if it became clear that the new format wasn't working, he would have no regrets about returning to the two-class system.

Well, it may be too soon for the jury to render a final verdict. But after three years, there are no signs that the four-class system is working. Attendance is so embarrassing that the IHSA no longer announces the figures. With no clearcut champion (small or large) as there was in the two-class format, tournament fans are choosing to stay home.

One reader asked: "Who were the top 10 big men in state history?" My top 10 are Kevin Garnett, Russell Cross, Dan Issel, George Wilson, Juwan Howard, Jim Brewer, Eric Anderson, LaPhonso Ellis, Dave Robisch and Ted Caiazza.

But the list of candidates is long and distinguished. Critics could argue in behalf of Terry Cummings, Jack Sikma, Archie Dees, Terry Bethel, Roger Suttner, Bob Guyette, Lowell Hamilton, Jeff Wilkins, Owen Brown, Art Day, Deon Thomas, Ed Horton, Michael Payne and Rashard Griffith.

Another reader asked: "Who were the top 10 point guards in state history?" My top 10 are Isiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, Shaun Livingston, Kiwane Garris, Bruce Douglas, Ronnie Lester, Glenn (Doc) Rivers, Sam Puckett, Paxton Lumpkin and Tracy Webster.

Again, the list of candidates leaves plenty of room for debate. Others are Maurice Cheeks, Tom Kivisto, Howard Nathan, Everette Stephens, Raymond McCoy, Larry Moore, Len Williams and JoJo Johnson.

Nationally known basketball recruiting analyst Van Coleman of Hoopmasters.com rates two Chicago Public League products among the top seven players in the class of 2013 -- No. 2 Jabari Parker of Simeon and No. 7 Thomas Hamilton of Whitney Young. The top-rated freshman is Nigel Williams-Goss of Henderson, Nev. De La Salle's Alex Foster is rated No. 27 on Coleman's list of the top 50.

Joe Henricksen, editor/publisher of City/Suburban Hoops Report, reveals his revised post-tournament list of the top 10 juniors in Illinois: Wayne Blackshear, Morgan Park; Mycheal Henry, Orr; Tracy Abrams, Mount Carmel; Chasson Randle, Rock Island; Ryan Boatright, East Aurora; Sam Thompson, Whitney Young; Nnanna Egwu, St. Ignatius; Mike Shaw, De La Salle; Bruce Baron, Carbondale Brehm Prep; and George Marshall, Brooks.

Experts? In Henricksen's last issue, none of the seven analysts or members of the media who were asked to predict the winners in the Class 3A and 4A picked Hillcrest or Simeon. In fact, none even had the two teams advancing to the state championship game.

Fans who are calling for DePaul to hire Simeon's Robert Smith as its new men's basketball coach are reminded of two things:

1. DePaul has made it clear that the school is only interested in hiring a person with head coaching experience at the college level.

2. It is a huge leap from high school to college coaching. Ask Gerry Faust. Can you name any major college basketball program in recent years that has hired a high school coach?

My fourth book, "Dusty, Deek, and Mr. Do-Right: High School Football In Illinois," will be published by University of Illinois Press on Aug. 1. There have been many books written about Illinois high school basketball -- I've written two of them -- but, to my knowledge, this is the first book devoted to Illinois high school football. In it, you'll be acquainted or re-acquainted with the great players, great coaches, great teams and great games in state history. I personally interviewed more than 350 former coaches and players. My first interview? Dick Butkus.

Nobody is having more fun watching the college basketball postseason than St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore. The winningest coach in state history -- he has won 861 games -- Pingatore has enjoyed monitoring the progress of two of his former stars, Ohio State's Evan Turner and Illinois' Dimetri McCamey.

McCamey's junior season ended in an NIT quarterfinal loss to Dayton on Wednesday night but Turner, who is acknowledged as the co-favorite for the Naismith Player of the Year award with Kentucky's John Wall, has a date with Tennessee on Friday in a Midwest regional semifinal in St. Louis.

It doesn't get much better than this for a coach who helped to groom Isiah Thomas and many other Division I players.

These were some of my thoughts while watching the Class 3A and 4A finals and wondering why I picked Georgetown to win the NCAA championship:

Old-timers like me might argue that the most exciting and dramatic game in the history of the boys state basketball tournament was Centralia/Carver in 1963 (Anthony Smedley's steal and shot) or West Aurora/Morgan Park in 1976 (Laird Smith's shot) or the Peoria Central/East St. Louis Lincoln triple overtime thriller in 1989 (Vincent Jackson's shot).

But last Friday's Waukegan/Whitney Young semifinal (Ahmad Starks' shot) belongs in that conversation. It lived up to the hype, which such ballyhooed games rarely do. It was the stuff of legends, pitting a host of talented and athletic Division I players in a rematch of last year's state finalists.

I know how the late Larry Hawkins would have reacted to Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman's announcement that there will be no more funding for non-varsity sports in the wake of the "fiscal crisis" that city schools are facing.

Hawkins, who coached Cazzie Russell and produced a state championship basketball team at Carver in 1963, was so much more than a coach. He was a teacher and educator and administrator, the director of the University of Chicago's Office of Special Programs and founder of the Institute for Athletics and Education.

He mentored dozens of Public League coaches and teachers and helped to send hundreds of athletes and just-plain-students to college.

Meyers Leonard is the real deal.

Forget for a moment what a dramatic and exciting Class 2A championship game it was, underdog Robinson beating traditional state power Peoria Manual 76-68 in overtime.

Forget for a moment that Robinson ("Where is that school located?" you probably asked) beat the No. 1 and No. 2 rated teams in the state to win the title.

Forget for a moment that Robinson point guard Derek Hannahs, who has a scholarship to play baseball at Ball State, might have been the best and smartest and most productive player on the floor. He converted 18 of 20 free throws and handled Peoria Manual's vaunted pressure from tipoff to final buzzer.

I don't profess to have enough expertise to criticize the passion and professionalism of a college football or basketball coach. But I have observed the game for more years than most critics who claim that privilege, the ones who once anointed Ron Zook, Ron Guenther and Bruce Weber for sainthood and now lead parades calling for their dismissals.

So I'll tackle a subject that is sacred to Illini Nation and wait for their anticipated scorn. They'll insist that I'm bashing Chief Illiniwek but, truthfully, this is just a forum for debate. It is too early to say I don't know what I'm talking about--the truth will be known to one and all by this time next year--but I thought it was time to give Orange-and-Blue loyalists something else to banter about.

Jereme Richmond.

Joe Henricksen of City/Suburban Hoops Report selected his starting lineup from the leading performers of the 2009-10 season--How could he have Champaign Centennial's Rayvonte Rice coming off the bench?--and suggested that I should pick an all-time starting five, the best of the last 50 years, position by position, not necessarily the five best players.

Henricksen explained his rationale for leaving Rice off his starting lineup. He was picking a team position-by-position, a good blend of size and quickness and talent, and he felt Rice would be dynamite in a John Havlicek, sixth-man role. Maybe so. But I like the 6-3, 225-pound Rice on the floor from start to finish, beating up on opponents.

"Rice is a man among boys, very strong, a great shooter, a good rebounder. His will to win is unbelievable. He has a knack for making plays when they count," Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said. "He reminds me of Charles Barkley, so dominant."

Our exercise on the 10 best high school basketball teams in Illinois history certainly created a firestorm of debate, which it was intended and expected to do. If basketball fans can be counted upon for anything, it is to offer an opinion. And many fans came armed with facts and figures to support their argument.

As I mentioned at the outset, if you are old enough to have seen Thornridge 1972 in person, there is no debate. Quinn Buckner, Boyd Batts, Mike Bonczyk & Co. is the No. 1 team in state history. No one argued that point.

Then the fun begins. If you didn't see Thornridge 1972, who was the best? Curiously, a lot of conversation centered around King coach Landon Cox's three state championship teams--1986, 1990 and 1993. Which of those was the best?