Reviewing this basketball season's breakout players, surprises, biggest stories and best coaches

Here is a look at those who made the most of the 2023-24 season.

Team of the Year: Homewood-Flossmoor

There was hype. There was the pedestal the team was put on in the preseason without having accomplished anything –– the Vikings were ranked No. 2 by the City/Suburban Hoops Report and No. 4 in the Sun-Times Super 25 when the polls rolled out in November. But there were also some doubters.

Could a team with three transfers inserted as starters and a group of individual players who simply are best with the ball in their hands, become cohesive enough and gel together fast enough to live up to the expectations?

With players checking their ego at the door and with coach Jamere Dismukes’ guidance, Homewood-Flossmoor accomplished everything it needed to and capped off the best season in program history with its first state championship.

“Like anything that’s new and different, there will be some challenges,” Dismukes admitted. “I’ve seen this group of young men go from individuals to a true brotherhood. I’ve watched them soar and I’ve watched them crash, but I’ve never seen them give up.”

The rise and fall was all true.

If you remember, H-F was blown out by Gonzaga Prep in early December in the Chicago Elite Classic, losing 77-47. They were stunned by Bradley-Bourbonnais. They lost a late-season showdown to Bolingbrook.

But the Vikings also put together perhaps the best résumé of any team in the state, beating Thornton twice, Bloom twice, Rich Twp., DePaul Prep, Downers Grove North, Curie, New Trier and Normal. They played 13 teams during the regular season that were ranked at some point during the season.

They also had to fight and claw back from a fourth quarter deficit to Curie to beat the top-ranked team in the super-sectional.

Homewood-Flossmoor had stars, yes –– Gianni Cobb and Bryce Heard have received plenty of postseason accolades –– but it was also a shared, group effort with so many different pieces contributing in big and small ways.

Jayden Tyler, the talented junior, waited his turn patiently and took what came to him all season. Carson Brownfield, the top returning scorer, welcomed the new additions and accepted becoming the third wheel. Mac Hagemaster gave H-F what it needed badly — size, a physical presence and a big man who did the little things.

And because of all that the Vikings have now done something the program has never done before.

“It was an honor and blessing to lead this group,” Dismukes added.

Surprise Team of the Year: Palatine

Surprising that Palatine won and pushed past 20 wins? No. Surprised they accomplished all they did with back-to-back MSL championships, regional and sectional championships, and the first-ever trip to the IHSA State Finals? Yes.

With the success Palatine had this season, it’s easy to forget all the Pirates lost following the 2022-23 season. The senior group a year ago, headed by Tyler Swierczek, Grant Dersnah and Sam Millstone, were battle-tested, multiple-year starters and double-figure scorers. They were leaders of a program who led the Pirates to a MSL title, upsetting Rolling Meadows and star Cameron Christie along the way.

However, a regional upset loss to Prospect as the No. 3 sectional seed stung. The opportunity for the program’s first sectional title in over 40 years was lost.

Enter 2023-24 and the return of two key players, Connor May and Tommy Elter, who left an imprint on the program and a team that surprised with a long tournament run.

Palatine was a team just outside the preseason top 25 back in November. It was a team expected to be in the thick of the MSL and a likely regional title favorite by the time February rolled around.

But winning a school record 28 games? Winning the school’s first sectional since 1982? Winning its first-ever supersectional and bringing home a state trophy after finishing fourth in the state in Class 4A?

But it all came together. May became an all-stater and the school’s all-time leading scorer. Elter played his Swiss Army knife roll to perfection. Connor Monroe emerged with the perfect tone-setting demeanor at point guard. And a pair of sophomores, three-point threat Darrin Dick and big man Tony Balanganayi, stepped into much-needed roles and provided just enough of a lift.

Coach Eric Millstone’s Pirates went from unranked to finishing in the top 10 at No. 7 and the first state trophy added to the Palatine trophy case.

Career Achievement Award: Jack Stanton, Downers Grove North

Yes, a “career achievement award” is almost like a slap in the face for a player as talented and accomplished as Jack Stanton. However, the future Princeton guard’s career has been pretty monumental for all that he’s injected into this program.

He started as a sophomore and averaged 7.8 points a game while starting to showcase his three-point shooting with 31 three-pointers.

Then everything took off –– for Stanton and the Trojans.

Last season Downers Grove North, as a No. 4 seed, was the Cinderella story of the postseason, winning its first sectional in more than two decades and reaching its first-ever IHSA State Finals. The Trojans finished the season 32-3 as Stanton burst on the scene by burying 102 three-pointers.

He tacked on 31 more wins this season as a senior, leading DGN to another sectional title before bowing out in the supersectional. The all-stater put up 15.8 points a game and knocked in 81 more three-pointers.

“He’s been unbelievable, the heartbeat of the team and program,” Downers North coach Jim Thomas said. “There were certain games where maybe all of us weren’t sure we would win that game, but he just gave us the confidence and belief.”

Stanton ignited the program. He finished his DGN career with 79 wins and the best back-to-back seasons in program history while scoring 1,214 points with a whopping 214 threes.

Breakout Player of the Year (Senior): Gianni Cobb, Homewood-Flossmoor

The small, dynamic guard has bounced around a bit. He began his career at Bloom before transferring to Perspectives for a couple of years. He left Perspectives where he played in the shadows of the city’s elite and settled back in at a south suburban basketball hotbed for his senior year and took off.

The addition of Cobb, who averaged 14.8 points a game this past season, spearheaded Homewood-Flossmoor’s rise and run to prominence this season.

Cobb was an energizer with the plays he made –– key, winning plays. He hit big shots, including two massively clutch shots to beat Thornton, one at the buzzer and one with two seconds to play.

In wins over Bolingbrook, Thornton and Downers Grove North he scored 26, 25 and 22 points, respectively. Cobb turned in a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over Sandburg. He led the Vikings with 22 points in the supersectional victory over Curie.

Cobb, who is headed to the Ivy League to play at Columbia, was a pest defensively and distributed offensively, leading the team in steals and assists.

Breakout Player of the Year (Junior): EJ Horton, Phillips

When the season started no one was really aware of the scoring machine guard on the South Side.

Horton had just moved to Chicago from Florida in the summer, and there were some whispers in the fall and the early part of the season. But no one knew what was coming.

Now? He’s a 20-plus point scorer in the Public League who just led his team to a Class 2A state championship.

Horton is an explosive 6-1 lefty guard who dazzles with his athleticism and attacking style. He will drop in a three –– Horton made over 50 three-pointers on the year –– but will grab the attention of college coaches this spring and summer while playing with Meanstreets on the club basketball circuit. Horton is a bonafide Division I prospect.

Breakout Player of the Year (Sophomore): Christopher Kirkpatrick, New Trier

In fairness, it’s Kirkpatrick with an asterisk, because in reality it’s Benet’s Gabe Sularski, who didn’t play varsity basketball as a freshman. But Sularski received so much fanfare and blew up as a recruit over the course of the summer, before he played a varsity game, that for this purpose he’s disqualified.

We’re looking for a true breakout.

Kirkpatrick was unknown to the basketball masses as he, too, played on the sophomore team as a freshman a year ago. This season he emerged as an immediate weapon for New Trier and a key reason why the Trevians returned to Champaign.

The 6-2 point guard put up numbers –– he led coach Scott Fricke’s team in scoring with 13.6 points a game –– and provided heroics. Kirkpatrick’s buzzer-beating three to beat Glenbrook North won the sectional. Kirkpatrick finished the year with an impressive 84 three-pointers while shooting a terrific 44 percent.

Coach of the Year candidates (listed alphabetically)

Jamere Dismukes, Homewood-Flossmoor

In year two on the job he led the program to heights it’s never reached before while blending talent together for a greater cause: winning a championship. Managing the roster and personnel with that type of talent is never easy. Plus, there was significant improvement this team continued to show throughout the season.

Scott Fricke, New Trier

The veteran coach is on a coaching heater. Fricke’s Trevians have won 30 or more games the past three years, including a pair of trips to Champaign. He did it this year after graduating three starters from last year’s team, including his top player and anchor Jake Fiegen, along with his point guard and big man.

Tom Kleinschmidt, DePaul Prep

What else can you say about the job Kleinschmidt repeatedly does with this program? The Rams move up in class from 2A and 3A and end with the same results –– a state championship. The defense, discipline and efficiency DePaul plays with are off the charts.

Eric Millstone, Palatine

Putting together the best season in school history, which included the first sectional title in over 40 years and the first-ever trip to the IHSA State Finals, is the starting point. The Pirates surpassed their seed and did so without a Division I player. Millstone’s fingerprints were all over this team, including the program-desired zone defense he implemented three years ago.

Mike Oliver, Curie

They were steady, consistent, unselfish and tough. Yes, Curie was Curie. But no one expected the Condors to climb to the heights that they did. Curie spent a great deal of the season at No. 1 while winning a sectional and finishing the season 31-3. Oliver continues to get players to buy into what he expects on a year to year basis.

Zack Ryan, Warren

This was a team completely off the radar when the season began but immediately jumped on the scene. With a freshman leading the way, the Blue Devils quickly moved into the top 10 and stayed there all year.

Andrew Schweitzer, Waubonsie Valley

Almost every other team in the DuPage Valley Conference was talked about very highly in the preseason, whether it was an up-and-coming young DeKalb team, talented Metea Valley or Naperville North and Neuqua Valley with their senior stars, Luke Williams and Luke Kinkade, respectively. But Schweitzer’s Warriors stole the show.

Waubonsie rolled out to a headline-grabbing 23-0 start to the season, won the DuPage Valley and a regional title before falling to seasoned postseason threat Downers North in the sectional to finish 27-3.

Conte Stamas, Brother Rice

Stamas lost all-state point guard Ahmad Henderson, who shined at Niagara as a freshman, and two other starters yet still surpassed last year’s 30-win total. The Crusaders won a school record 31 games and reached a sectional championship.

Biggest story (team): Kenwood’s eligibility issues

The saga surrounding Kenwood was a black mark on the season. Remember, Kenwood was the preseason No. 1 ranked team.

The late February news that multiple Kenwood players and coaches, including head coach Mike Irvin, were ruled ineligible by the IHSA just prior to the start of state tournament play was shocking.

Rules violations jolted one of the marquee programs in the state and left the Broncos a shell of themselves. They managed to still win a regional while missing Irvin and five players, including four of their top six players. But a team with state title aspirations when the season began lost in Simeon in the sectional semifinals.

Biggest story (player): The freshmen

The story has been highlighted, followed, repeated and beaten to death because it was such a sensational anecdote to the season, but the arrival of this freshmen class — and living up to and exceeding expectations — was a revelation.

Bolingbrook’s Davion Thompson and Warren’s Jaxson Davis set the season on fire from the jump. They led ranked teams while scoring 20 points a night and providing a legitimate presence in every game they played.

Thompson and Davis played with poise and maturity unlike any freshmen we’ve seen in years. The fact their teams went a combined 58-10 with these two as the catalysts shows how impactful they truly were.

They were all-area. They were all-state. Those are accolades rarely ever bestowed on freshmen.

When you factor in the impact Young’s talented freshman Howard Williams had on the season, along with the booming talent and upside of Kenwood’s Devin Cleveland, it’s a freshman class that has set the bar high.