The winningest high school basketball programs of the decade: No. 22 Proviso East

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. 22 Proviso East today and will add one program a day going forward.

22. PROVISO EAST: 212-86

Decade’s biggest storyline: Proviso East may have had the best team of the decade that didn’t win a state championship. The 2011-12 Pirates finished the season 32-1, losing only to a loaded Simeon team led by Jabari Parker, 50-48, in a state championship game everyone expected and wanted to see.

The Pirates, which featured leading scorer Keith Carter, Sterling Brown, Paris Lee and Jevon Carter, harassed opponents on the defensive end and excited fans with its endless speed in transition.

This 2011-12 team was the best Proviso East team since the back-to-back state champion teams in the early 1990s.

Underrated highlight: The decade managed to continue an impressive run of players selected in the NBA Draft.

In every decade since the 1970s there has been at least one Proviso East alum chosen in the NBA Draft. This past decade included Jevon Carter (second-round pick in the 2018 draft) and Sterling Brown (second-round pick in the 2017 draft) who play for the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.

This underrated highlight is especially impressive considering the rich-tradition of Proviso East basketball is made up of just 2.5 square miles and a mere 21 square blocks.

Sun-Times file photo

Player of the Decade:Sterling Brown (2013)

All-Decade Team:Keith Carter (2012), Sterling Brown (2013), Jevon Carter, (2014) Paris Lee (2013) and Antonio Williams (2016)

Other decade highlights:

-Following the sensational team in 2011-12 that won 32 straight games before losing in the state championship to Simeon, the 2012-13 team returned to Peoria. The Pirates again lost to Simeon, this time in the state semifinals, and ended up finishing fourth in the state with a 29-5 record.

-From 2011-2018 the Proviso East program produced nine Division I basketball players.

-The 2011-12 team won the Proviso West Holiday Tournament for the first time in 20 years.

-The Pirates won five regional championships in the decade and two sectionals.

-Won four West Suburban Gold conference titles, including a three-year stretch from 2011-2014 where the Pirates went a combined 35-1 in league play in claiming three straight titles.