Big brothers: The best sibling combinations in Illinois high school basketball history

Pau and Marc Gasol. Dominique and Gerald Wilkins. Bernard and Albert King. The Barry brothers.

They are all among the greatest brother combinations in basketball history.

Illinois high school basketball has its own long and growing list of terrific brothers who have impacted the sport in a big way over the past 100 years.

There were state championship teams fueled by brothers.

Phil and Paul Judson led the famed Hebron team to a state championship in 1952. And repeating Hebron’s story never gets old.

The Judson twins were two of 16 total seniors at Hebron that year — nine girls and seven boys. The Judson brothers are synonymous with Illinois high school basketball lore after helping tiny Hebron to a 64-59 state championship overtime win over Quincy during one-class basketball.

The Hebron-Quincy battle was the first-ever televised state championship in state history.

Ted Caiazza was the focal point of the Lyons state championship team the following year in 1953. But brothers Leon and Joel McRae were instrumental in helping Caiazza and LT to a perfect 29-0 record.

But Illinois high school basketball is in the midst of witnessing perhaps the biggest barrage of sibling stars the state has ever seen.

This past season Miles and Wesley Rubin, a pair of Division I prospects in the senior class, led Simeon to a city title and state runner-up finish in Class 3A. The Class 4A title game included all-stater and Iowa-bound Owen Freeman, along with younger brother Braden Freeman, helping Moline to a state championship.

And arguably two of the best brother tandems in the long history of this state include the Christie and Fears brothers.

Both pairs of brothers are included on this short list of the seven best brother combinations in Illinois high school basketball history.

Max and Cameron Christie (Rolling Meadows)

Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

The Christie brothers are certainly right near the top — if not at the very top — when it comes to the best brother combinations in state history. And they both played their entire four years of high school in Illinois.

The Christies combined to score an incredible 3,989 career points between them, which included a shortened COVID year in 2021 that limited the brothers to just 15 games.

Max Christie, the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year and McDonald’s All-American, scored 2,100 career points and was a three-time all-state selection. The 6-6 guard went on to play one season at Michigan State and is now finishing his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cameron Christie averaged 25 points a game as a senior en route to finishing his career with 1,889 points. The two-time all-stater made a school record 101 three-pointers this past season and finished with 235 for his career. Christie is headed to the Big Ten next season to play for Minnesota.

No one was able to really capture the thrill of watching the Christie brothers together — at least at the highest level together — due to COVID keeping gyms empty and limiting Rolling Meadows to just 15 conference games when Max was a senior and Cameron a sophomore in 2021.

Jeremy and Jeremiah Fears (Joliet West)

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The Fears’ run in Joliet was interrupted. Jeremy Fears Jr., left after his freshman year to attend La Lumiere in Indiana for two years.

Jeremy returned home this past season to play his senior year with his ultra-talented younger brother, sophomore Jeremiah. Together they filled gyms all season and led Joliet West to 28 wins and a sectional title game appearance.

Senior Jeremy Fears was the Sun-Times Player of the Year and McDonald’s All-American. He averaged 19.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists a game.

Jeremiah Fears is the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top-ranked sophomore prospect in the state. But, like his brother, he has also decided to leave the state and go the prep school route instead of playing his final two years in Illinois.

Tyler Ulis and Ahron Ulis (Marian Catholic)

Sun-Times file photo

They never played together but what a success story the Ulis brothers had in leading Marian Catholic basketball to unprecedented heights.

Tyler Ulis dazzled for four years and evolved into a McDonald’s All-American during his senior season. He was a two-time all-state selection and helped the Spartans to a 57-7 record during his junior and senior years.

Ulis, who finished his high school career with 2,335 points, 578 assists and 283 steals, went on to be the SEC Player of the Year while at Kentucky and played two seasons in the NBA.

A few years later came little brother Ahron Ulis, who went on to score over 1,500 career points and become an all-state selection as well. Before heading off to Iowa, Ulis won 78 games in his final three seasons at Marian Catholic, including a Class 3A third-place finish.

Lloyd Batts (Thornton) and Boyd Batts (Thornridge)

Sun-Times file photo

Arguably the best brother combination in state history.

When you’re considered one of the greatest players in Thornton basketball history, you’re in select company.

When Lloyd Batts graduated high school in 1970, he left as the all-time leading scorer in Thornton history with 1,601 career points. He was a two-time all-state selection. Batts headed to Cincinnati where he was a star, scoring 1,585 points in just three seasons there.

Younger brother Boyd Batts was also a star. He was part of the famed Thornridge teams in the early 1970s that won back-to-back state championships and compiled a three-year record of 84-8. Boyd Batts, who went on to play collegiately at Hawaii and then UNLV, scored over 1,500 career points.

Dennis and Bruce Douglas (Quincy)

Bruce Douglas is an Illinois basketball legend and the leader of some iconic Quincy teams in the early 1980s. In his four years at Quincy, the Blue Devils compiled a record of 123-5 and reached four consecutive IHSA State Finals. Douglas led the 1980-81 team to a perfect 33-0 state championship season. He finished his career with over 2,000 career points.

Following an All-American high school career, Bruce Douglas went on to star at Illinois where he was named co-Big Ten Player of the Year.

Bruce Douglas teamed up with his brother, Dennis Douglas, for that 1981 state title run and was a part of the infamous 64-game winning streak that spanned two seasons. Dennis Douglas was also an all-state selection, scoring 1,524 career points. He played collegiately at Northern Illinois before transferring to Ferris State.

David and Martell Bailey (Westinghouse)

Sun-Times file photo

The Bailey brothers were Chicago basketball royalty for roughly eight years, starting with their high school careers at Westinghouse in the mid-1990s and through their standout years in college.

The fun, dynamic, pint-sized brothers were electric and starred collegiately at Loyola (David) and UIC (Martell).

The 5-9 Martell Bailey was an all-state selection in 1999-2000 when he averaged 14.5 points, 8.3 assists and 4.1 steals a game. He led Westinghouse to a 31-2 record and a state runner-up finish as a senior. He played three seasons at UIC where he finished with 789 points and a whopping 656 assists, including a season where he led the entire country in assists.

Older brother David Bailey, a 5-8 dynamo who graduated from Westinghouse a year earlier in 1999, put up some significant numbers at Loyola, scoring nearly 2,000 career points (1,933) while averaging five assists a game throughout his career.

Nick Martinelli, Dom Martinelli and Jimmy Martinelli (Glenbrook South)

Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

How about a trio of brothers?

The whopping number that stands out is this one: 4,287

That’s the career points the Martinelli brothers poured in for Glenbrook South basketball from 2013 to 2022.

The overall production from the three brothers is at another level when you also consider they together gobbled up 1,349 rebounds.

But the wins these brothers piled up at what has never been a traditional basketball powerhouse until their arrival is equally impressive. Of the five biggest single-season win totals in school history, four were achieved with a Martinelli on the roster.

Dom and Nick combined to help the 2019-20 team to a school record 29 wins. That was eclipsed two years later when Nick led the Titans to a 33-3 record and the program’s first-ever sectional championship.

Dom Martinelli, who set the single-game scoring record with 51 points in a single game, is the all-time leading scorer in school history with over 2,000 career points. Nick Martinelli was a two-time all-state selection. He averaged 21.8 points a game as a junior and 22.8 points as a senior, finishing as the third all-time leading scorer in school history.

The oldest brother, Jimmy, went on to play Division III basketball at New York University where he was a four-year starter and captain. Dom is currently playing at St. Thomas in Minnesota, while Nick will begin his sophomore season at Northwestern next year.