High school basketball: 2021 Chicago Sun-Times All-City basketball team

Brooks’ Chaz Harvey (0) drives the ball past Bogan’s Tarel Harding (23).

Chaz Harvey played at Brooks all four years of his high school career. That meant three seasons in the White Division and just eight precious games in the spotlight of the Red-South/Central this season.

Harvey took tremendous advantage of every opportunity during his high school career. As a sophomore he drained a game-winning shot in the only game his team played that was covered by the Sun-Times.

“His heart is huge,” Brooks coach George Montgomery said. “Whoever gets him on the next level is going to love him. He’s going to be a steal.”

As a senior Harvey was one of the best players in the city. The numbers do the talking. Harvey averaged 20 points, six rebounds and two steals. He scored 25 against Simeon, 22 against Bogan, 29 against Corliss, 27 against Curie and 24 against Hyde Park.

“We want to make some noise and show the city that we have a pretty good team,” Harvey said after the Bogan win. “That will happen if we just keep winning.”

Harvey and the Eagles did that, finishing in fourth place in the mighty Red-South/Central with a 5-3 conference record.

Brooks played 12 games overall, which is above average for teams in the Public League Red. The 20 Red teams averaged just 9.6 games this season.

Young played 16 games and North Lawndale only managed three. Simeon played 10 and Longwood didn’t have a season at all.

The situation was similar with private schools in the city. St. Ignatius played 18 games this season and DePaul Prep managed to get in 16 games. But De La Salle played just five games and St. Francis de Sales didn’t have a season at all.

Traditionally we divide All-City into four teams of five players: First Team, Second Team, etc. That doesn’t seem appropriate this season. There weren’t enough games and opportunities to see the players to make those judgement calls.

So this year we will still select 20 players for the All-City team, but the teams won’t exist. There is one other major change this season: Only seniors were eligible to be picked for the special mention team.

I went back and forth over this for several days and even considered making the All-City team a seniors-only group. The Class of 2021 has dealt with so much turmoil over the last year. They didn’t get a city tournament or a state tournament this season and they didn’t have any state finals last season. The NCAA’s recruiting dead period just seems to be extended forever.

This feels like one small way to help out some kids that have lost so much. The sophomores and juniors that missed out on the special mention team will have full seasons next year to garner headlines and earn honors.

Both of these changes are for this year only.

Players on teams in the Chicago city limits are eligible for All-City. The All-Area team, comprised of players in the Sun-Times’ entire coverage area, will be released next week.

Sun-Times All-City Team

Player, School, Position, Height, Year

Darrin Ames, Kenwood, G, 6-0, So.

Xavier Amos, Young, F, 6-7, Jr.

Isaiah Barnes, Simeon, G, 6-7, Sr.

Rasheed Bello, DePaul Prep, G, 5-10, Sr.

Cassius Brooks, Curie, G, 6-3, Sr.

Timaris Brown, St. Patrick, F, 6-5, Jr.

Ahamad Bynum, Simeon, G, 6-3 Sr.

AJ Casey, Young, F, 6-8, Jr.

Jaylen Drane, Simeon, G, 6-1, Jr.

Davontae Hall, Hyde Park, G, 6-1, Jr.

Chaz Harvey, Brooks, G, 6-2, Sr.

Ahmad Henderson, Brother Rice, G, 5-9, So.

Christian Henry, St. Rita, G, 6-1, Sr.

Gary Johns, Westinghouse, F, 6-7, Sr.

TY Johnson, DePaul Prep, G, 6-2, Sr.

Brian Mathews, DePaul Prep, C, 6-9, Sr.

AJ Redd, St. Ignatius, G, 6-3, Jr.

J. Caleb Slawinski, Corliss, F, 6-7, Sr.

JJ Taylor, Kenwood, G, 6-8, So.

Martell Webb, Westinghouse, C, 6-7, Jr.

All-City Special Mention Seniors

David Abdullah, King, G, 5-11
Freddie Cooper, Corliss, G, 6-3
Caleb Corro, St. Patrick, G, 6-1
Cullen Cosme, Brother Rice, G, 6-0
KeJuan Currie, Fenger, G, 6-1
Nick Galati, St. Patrick, G, 6-2
Kevin Gentry, Austin, G, 6-1
Jermell Grigsby, Curie, F, 6-6
Jordan Hill, Solorio, G, 6-1
Darrion Jones, Bogan, G, 5-10
Alex Knight, Marist, 5-11, G, Sr.
Sincere Malone, Lincoln Park, F, 6-9
Grant Mason, Mount Carmel, G, 6-2
Norvell Meadows, Orr, G, 6-0
Julio Montes, Lincoln Park, G, 6-0
Grant Newell, Young, F, 6-6
Nick Owens, Curie, G. 5-8
Terrell Taylor, Clemente, G, 6-1
Jaeshon Thomas, Young, G, 6-3
Malik Williams, Farragut, G, 5-8