When high school basketball fans think back to the 1980s, programs like Quincy, Providence St. Mel, East St. Louis Lincoln and the arrival of city powers King and Simeon are easy to think back on.
The 1990s brought us memorable basketball giants in Peoria Manual and Thornton, a few steamrolling Proviso East teams and the continued dominance of King.
The first 10 years of the 2000s included Glenbrook North, Peoria High and the beginning of a Simeon juggernaut.
Earlier this year we broke down the decade’s best teams and best players. Now, with every season of the past decade complete, it’s time to look at the Chicago area programs who won the most.
This list is comprised of the 50 winningest programs over the past 10 years, starting with the 2010-11 season and concluding with the 2019-20 season. Every team in every class throughout the Chicago area will be broken down in a variety of ways. But total wins, with winning percentage used as tie-breaker, determined the rankings.
We present No. 23 Fremd today and will add one program a day going forward.
23. FREMD: 210-81
Decade’s biggest storyline: The 2016-2017 was a dream season and one for the record books, including a school record 30 wins and just the second time the program advanced to the State Finals.
Fremd’s unforgettable run began with a perfect 25-0 regular season. The unbeaten streak continued through the postseason as the Vikings rolled into the state semifinals in Peoria with a 32-0 record before losing to Young.
Along the way the Vikings won in dramatic, nail-biting fashion. Kyle Sliwa’s 30-foot miracle buzzer-beater knocked off Conant 43-42 in the sectional championship. Then Fremd beat Jacobs 36-35 in overtime in the super-sectional in front of 7,000-plus fans at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
Underrated highlight: The Fremd program is the only one in the Chicago area over the past decade to twice finish the regular season unbeaten. The aforementioned 2016-17 team grabbed the most headlines with its run to the state semifinals while still unbeaten. But don’t forget the undefeated team that went 28-0 but lost to Stevenson and Jalen Brunson in the sectional championship.
Player of the Decade:Zach Monaghan (2011)
All-Decade Team:Riley Glassman (2014), Ben Carlson (2014), Zach Monaghan (2011), Kyle Sliwa (2017) and Bryce Hopkins (2019)
Other decade highlights:
-Fremd won four Mid-Suburban League Conference championships.
-The decade highlights included five regional titles.
