Every state tournament provides compelling storylines, whether abbreviated or extended through the three-week state tourney journey.
Here are five of those potential storylines to follow in the coming weeks.
Will transfers pave the way to state championships?
The majority of state champs for the past two decades — yes, easily the majority — were helped significantly by the addition of a transfer.
But the list goes well beyond the teams everyone typically cries and moans about: Simeon, Young, Curie and Morgan Park.
Even teams you wouldn’t think, don’t remember, or even know were aided by the arrival of a transfer.
Shaun Livingston didn’t start his career at Peoria Central, where he led the Lions to back-to-back state championships in 2003 and 2004.
Belleville Althoff and Belleville West both welcomed Division I transfers and won a combined three state championships several years back.
The great Glenbard West team received a big boost from Bobby Durkin, a transfer from Hinsdale South who is now playing at Davidson.
Last year Moline won in large part because it added a 6-10 high-major recruit from Bradley-Bourbonnais in Owen Freeman.
Over the past several years the transfer has become both more widespread and, apparently, way more accepted.
This year there are state title contending teams, ones that have been ranked No. 1, who are riding more than just one or two transfers to provide a jolt. These are teams made up primarily of one-year transfers.
It would surprise no one if Thornton won a Class 3A state championship and Homewood-Flossmoor won it all in Class 4A. If they do win it they will be teams, as noted, with a starting lineup predominantly made up of transfers.
Thornton welcomed the best senior in the state in Morez Johnson, a transfer from St. Rita who is headed to Illinois. Johnson, along with senior starters Meyoh Swansey (from Romeoville), Isaiah Green (from Kenwood) and Chase Abraham (from TF North), form the backbone of a team that is favored in Class 3A.
Bryce Heard, one of the top juniors in the state, and senior Gianni Cobb are H-F’s two leading scorers and moved in this year, while big man transfer Mac Hagemaster (from Lincoln-Way East) has provided size and physicality for the Vikings.
Whether anyone likes it or not, transfers have become more normalized and more in abundance than ever before. But the question remains: Can a team assembled with transfers win a state championship in its first year of playing together?
It’s a storyline worth monitoring as this postseason plays out.
The freshmen
The truth is the regular season was illuminated by freshmen novas.
Typically, freshmen, even the good ones, endure start-and-stop first seasons. Not the case for Davis and Thompson.
As the numbers started popping and the wins followed for Warren’s Jaxson Davis and Bolingbrook’s Davion Thompson, the two freshmen guards were talked about endlessly and instantly became attractions.
Their teams boast a combined record of 50-8. They are No. 1 seeds in their respective sectionals. But can freshmen, as catalysts for highly-ranked teams, lead the way to Champaign and a state trophy?
The examples of doing so are extremely limited over the years. Jon Scheyer did so for Glenbrook North in 2003. DJ Steward did the same for Fenwick in 2017.
In addition to Davis and Thompson, Kenwood’s postseason fate could be dictated by the play of its star freshman, Devin Cleveland.
While Cleveland doesn’t have to lead the way for his team the way Davis and Thompson do for theirs, he’s still a pivotal piece for coach Mike Irvin. He kept the Broncos alive in the city championship, which was ultimately a loss to Curie, by igniting his team with a trio of three-pointers in the third quarter.
Fresh faces crashing the party
When the Maine South Sectional winner and the Addison Trail Sectional winner meet in the Hoffman Estates Super, it’s very likely the team that wins and heads to Champaign will be a fresh new face on the scene.
Well, New Trier, which finished third in the state a year ago, could put a damper on that with another postseason run that ends with a state trophy.
But we start with the top seeds in those two two sectionals, Loyola and Lake Park. Loyola hasn’t reached state since 1976. Lake Park never has in its history.
Other viable challengers haven’t exactly been featured players in March, either.
Neither Glenbrook South nor Niles North have ever reached state. It’s been 57 years since York, the No. 2 seed at Addison Trail, has made the trip, and Glenbrook North hasn’t since the Jon Scheyer days.
Then there is the Class 3A UIC Supersectional, where Mount Carmel will be the prohibitive favorite. The Caravan have a state championship trophy in the trophy case — but it was back in 1985. They haven’t been back since.
The other contenders that could come through the UIC Supersectional if it can get by favored Mount Carmel? Westinghouse, the top seed in the Fenwick Sectional, won a state title 22 years ago. It’s been 44 years for De La Salle while St. Patrick has never reached the State Finals. St. Laurence made it back in 1977.
The Public League making history (But for the wrong reason?)
The IHSA state basketball tournament made a significant change following the 2001-02 season. Before that season the Public League champion was guaranteed a spot in the IHSA State Finals. From 1972-2002 the city champ was awarded one of eight state quarterfinal berths in Class AA. But that all came to an end in 2002.
Beginning in 2002-03, city teams were scattered across Chicago area sectionals, mixed with suburban teams and Catholic League teams. The lone Public League team that made it to Peoria that first year? Von Steuben. Coach Vince Carter’s team took care of St. Ignatius, Young and Brother Rice before falling to Peoria and Shaun Livingston in the Elite Eight.
The Public League has had a representative playing in the big school State Finals every single year since.
But take a quick look at this year’s state tournament field and it might leave the Public League feeling a little squeamish. It feels like a whole lot of weight will be on the shoulders of Curie.
Perennial powers Young and Simeon are seeded fifth and sixth, respectively, in their sectional. Kenwood is a No. 2 seed but in the same sectional as Curie.
A sectional championship would lead Curie or Kenwood to a super-sectional matchup with one of the 4A favorites, Homewood-Flossmoor.
Yes, there is a chance the big school State Finals in Champaign — the four teams in Class 3A and the four in Class 4A — could be without a Public League team for the first time. Ever.
The Public League did not have a team in Champaign in 1971, but it was just a one-class system at that time.
Can the Catholic League break through in a big way?
Mount Carmel is a No. 1 seed. Loyola is a No. 1 seed. So, too, is DePaul Prep in Class 3A.
When you add red-hot Brother Rice to the mix the Catholic League has four teams with 25-plus wins on the season before state tournament play even begins.
De La Salle, St. Laurence and Fenwick are all top three sectional seeds.
The Catholic League is in a position to make a lot of noise in the coming weeks.
But it’s about being the best. It’s about the biggest prize — state championships.
Yes, St. Joseph won a state championship in 2015 representing the Catholic League. But coach Gene Pingatore’s St. Joe’s program, synonymously known as a member of the East Suburban Catholic Conference, had just joined the Catholic League four years earlier and then shut its doors permanently six years later.
Thus, that title becomes an easy one to forget and for the league to prop up.
This leads us to the only other big school state champion from the Catholic League in the last four decades: Mount Carmel in 1985. But we’re going on 40 years here.
DePaul Prep did roll to a small school title last year, winning a Class 2A state championship. St. Ignatius reached the State Finals in Class 3A in each of the last two years, finishing third and fourth in the state.
But for this vastly improved and rising league to make a significant statement, elusive big school state championships would do the trick. There are several league teams, based on seeds, rankings and a season lacking dominant teams, who are in a position to do so.
