Stevenson’s Connor Cashaw ‘certain’ Rice is right choice

LINCOLNSHIRE — Senior shooting guard Connor Cashaw sat in front of friends, teachers and family Tuesday night at Stevenson and made his dream become reality.

He unzipped his windbreaker jacket to reveal a Rice University jersey, announcing that he’ll spend the next four years playing college basketball for the Owls in Houston, Texas, after he graduates this summer.

“I knew for certain Rice was the place for me after my last visit there last Sunday,” Cashaw said. “I have a lot of family in the area down there. My uncle, Terrance, went to Rice. And I want to follow in my father Brad’s footsteps, too. My dad didn’t go there, but he studied engineering and business. I plan on studying something business or economics related, and hope to own my own company one day.”

Harvard and Lehigh were the two other schools in the 6-foot-5, 189-pound Cashaw’s final three. But first-year Rice coach Mike Rhoades, formerly an assistant under Shaka Smart at VCU, swayed him.

In 2011, VCU qualified for the NCAA tourney with an at-large bid and stunned top-seed Kansas to reach the Final Four.

“Mike’s a great guy, and his success as an assistant at VCU was a huge reason I chose Rice,” Cashaw said. “The campus is beautiful. Plus, I really like the fast, up-tempo style he plans on using. It suits my game. The fact he’s experienced postseason success in the NCAA tournament helped, too. I love playing on the big stage, and hopefully, that’s where I’ll find myself with him at Rice someday.”

But first, he has some unfinished business to attend to locally. Specifically, trying to help the Patriots become the first boys hoops team in Lake County history to win a state title in Illinois.

This fall will mark Cashaw’s fourth season as a member of Stevenson’s varsity team. The past two seasons, the Patriots reached the Class 4A state tournament, only to have their title dreams dashed.

“Trying to win a state title has been on my mind from the second we lost in the championship game last March,” said Cashaw, who averaged 17.8 points a game as a junior. “I’ve been working all offseason lifting, practicing, focusing on improving my defense — and literally every aspect of my game.”

With Cashaw’s senior teammates Jalen Brunson (a recent Villanova commit) and Matthew Johnson (who has D-I offers) also returning, the Patriots will be favored by many to make history this season. Brunson, too, has been on varsity since his freshman year, and Johnson joined Brunson and Cashaw as a sophomore.

“I keep telling Connor he has to have a killer instinct every play, every minute he’s on the basketball court,” Brunson said. “When he shows that constant fire and intensity, he’s unstoppable, and about as good as anyone there is at the high school level.”

Johnson agreed.

“I’m thrilled we have so much talent coming back for one more run,” Johnson said. “Today was an exciting moment for our team, our school and for Connor. People don’t always see he’s a wonderful, amazing person off the court as well. Today’s the result of all the hard work Connor’s put in through the years. I’m proud of him.”

Patriots coach Pat Ambrose admitted he marvels at the fact Stevenson has been to consecutive state tournaments with a nucleus that hasn’t played a quarter of basketball yet as seniors.

“It’s truly incredible to stop and think about that fact,” Ambrose said. “That’s not something you see very often. But we have to take a one-game-at-a-time approach. It’s great we have a group here with Connor, Jalen and Matt that have tremendous chemistry, but it’s going to take a whole team effort, not just those guys.”

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Stevenson has made back-to-back Class 4A state finals.