Chicago Sports

Dalen Davis admits he was like every young hotshot basketball prospect. He wanted the bright lights of high-major basketball. The recent Princeton commit dreamed of playing at Kansas.

“I’m going to be honest, I didn’t start thinking about going to an Ivy League school or placing that importance on education until recently,” Davis said. “My whole life I loved Kansas. I was like everyone in that I wanted to play at the highest level. Power five, ESPN, biggest arenas, all of that. That was the goal.”

But it was the Ivy League school – and its interest in him – that began to change his perspective. It was Princeton that made him think differently.

“I started thinking about life and thinking more long term,” Davis said. “They showed and pointed out things to me that I didn’t even see in myself at the time.”

Davis visited the campus in June. He said he immediately felt a pull toward the Ivy League school. There was a “genuine feel” he received while there. His relationship with head coach Mitch Henderson grew. He began to break down the schedule Princeton played, the roster, the academics and the majors it had to offer.

He returned in September for a second visit.

“The vibe and environment still felt right,” Davis said. “And throughout it all, I always felt like Princeton valued me the most.”

The Ivy League is feasting on Chicago area talent.

The recent commitment of Davis to Princeton was the third top prospect in Illinois to commit to an Ivy League school, following New Trier’s Jake Fiegen to Cornell and Lyons’ Nik Polonowski to Penn.

Last year’s Class of 2022 also saw three of the state’s top players, Glenbard West’s Caden Pierce, Glenbrook South’s Cooper Noard and New Trier’s Jackson Munro, land in the Ivy League. Pierce, who won a state title with the Hilltoppers, is a freshman at Princeton, while Munro and Noard are at Dartmouth and Cornell, respectively.

Evanston’s Blake Peters, now a sophomore at Princeton, was a part of an Ivy League championship team a year ago.

Harvard has a pair of area products. Louis Lesmond of Notre Dame averaged 7.9 points a game as a freshman last season, while New Trier’s Sam Silverstein played 20 minutes a game for the Crimson.

Former Neuqua Valley star John Poulakidas is a sophomore at Yale. Perry Cowan of DePaul Prep was a key contributor at Brown and returns for his senior year.

The Ivy League has always dabbled in the Chicago area over the years, but it’s become a true hotbed of talent for current programs.

But of all the aforementioned Chicago area names, Davis is the only Chicago Public League product headed to the prestigious league. He understands the rarity of his story and the exclusive, small club he will be a part of when he steps on campus a year from now.

“I think being one of the rare Public League kids to go play in the Ivy League — and the fact that I’m a Black student-athlete who is going to Princeton –is incredible,” Davis said proudly. “I think it shifts the narrative of Chicago Public League kids, and the importance of education and being able to do both, play basketball and go to a place like Princeton. I hope in some way it encourages other kids to be better academically, to help push them as much in the classroom as it does on the court. I want to be the focal point of that shift and a motivation to the others in the city.”

Young coach Tyrone Slaughter has had his share of basketball players who have gone on to play at high-academic institutions in college. He, too, believes the more players that follow that path, the more doors will open for others.

“It speaks to the misnomer of Public League basketball and Whitney Young in particular,” Slaughter said of Davis’ commitment to Princeton.

But he also feels it goes both ways. While he hopes more players will take advantage of unique opportunities like Davis, he also wants those types of schools to actually recruit those players when there is an opportunity to do so.

“My hope is it will shed a light on Ivy League schools for other players and for them to look at those schools in a serious manner,” Slaughter said. “And I also think it’s a matter of getting schools of that nature to look at our players in that manner.”

Like almost all student-athletes who not only attend but decide to play at a prestigious academic university, Davis did his homework before making a decision. He had a lot to weigh.

“It was stressful at times,” Davis said. “It was a long process.”

There were schools with good academic reputations — and maybe a higher level of basketball — and then there was the Ivy League, a basketball conference with elite, world-renowned academics. In Princeton, Davis can reap the benefits of playing Division I basketball while obtaining a first-class education.

The aspirations Davis has beyond college and following his basketball career mattered. And the head start Ivy League graduates have following graduation stood out.

“That definitely mattered,” Davis said of the obvious advantages of an Ivy League degree. “Basketball stops at one point. You can’t play forever. I want to be prepared for life. Those four years at Princeton? That’s going to prepare me for life.

“And it’s just unbelievable the alumni base they have and the alumni I’ve already heard from since committing to Princeton. It really came down to making a mature decision for me.”

Slaughter recognized exactly that in his star point guard as he went through the recruiting process.

“He hasn’t become clouded by the allure of what is perceived to be the right college choice for a player of his magnitude,” Slaughter said. “When you look at him and his talents, I feel his talents are that of a high-major basketball player. But what more can one ask then to play at a place like Princeton with its academic reputation and great basketball history?”

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Skylar Jones is a little ahead of schedule.

The Public League’s top senior and the state’s highest-ranked uncommitted prospect announced her commitment to Missouri on Saturday.

The Tigers were one of five finalists for Jones, who also considered Syracuse, Mississippi State, Illinois and Rutgers.

“What stood out to me is they have the best of both worlds, athletically and academically,” said Jones, who has not decided on a major.

Missouri is coming off an 18-12 season highlighted by an overtime victory against eventual national champ South Carolina.

The 6-foot wing spent the fall taking official visits and had targeted a decision at the end of October.

“Big relief,” Jones said. “When I announced my commitment it was a real good feeling. The recruiting process was real stressful.”

One of the hardest parts was delivering the news to the schools she did not choose.

“I felt a real connection to the staffs and even some of the players,” Jones said of the other finalists.

Jones averaged team bests of 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 3.0 assists per game last season for the Dolphins, who won the Public League title and reached the Elite Eight in Class 4A before falling to Benet in the supersectional.

Now she can focus on her senior season as Young looks to gear up for another long postseason run.

“I’m going to be completely honest, we’re struggling [now] because we’re not all on the same page,” Jones said. “But we had that kind of problem last year [also].”

Knowing that everything worked out then gives Jones confidence history will repeat.

“We have a lot of talent across the board,” she said.

Jones leads the way at No. 96 nationally in the espnW/HoopGurlz rankings for the class of 2023.

She was the last of Illinois’ six top-100 players to commit, following No. 62 Jordan Wood of Carmel (Michigan State), No. 73 Janae Kent of Oak Forest (LSU), No. 77 Katy Eidle of Hersey (Michigan), No. 80 Emily Fisher of Libertyville (Maryland) and No. 83 Lenee Beaumont of Benet (Indiana).

Staying close to home

Senior guard Jazelle Young, the top returning scorer and rebounder for Kenwood, has committed to Loyola.

Young averaged 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds last season for the Public League runner-up and Class 4A regional champ Broncos. She’s the second Kenwood player to commit to Loyola in two years, joining current Ramblers freshman Whitney Dunn.

Rising stars

Three local juniors are ranked in the espnW/HoopGurlz top 60 nationally. Grayslake Central’s Tahj Bloom and Rolling Meadows’ Roisin Grandberry, both 6-3 forwards, are No. 38 and No. 49 respectively. Xamiya Walton, a 5-5 point guard for Butler, is 55th.

No area players are in the espnW/HoopGurlz top 25 for sophomores, but Naperville Central guard Trinity Jones is among the top 25 freshmen.

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Chicago Bears Dazz Newsome Velus Jones Jr.

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Chicago Bears Dazz Newsome Velus Jones Jr.

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Illinoisans are calling conflicting plays on a potential Chicago Bears move to Arlington Heights, split among those who favor spiking Soldier Field for a new suburban stadium, others who want the team to hold the line on the lakefront — and a large chunk who are punting on the issue.

But an outsized portion of them agree on one point: They don’t want to see any of their tax dollars thrown at the potential suburban mega-development.

That’s according to a Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ Poll that found a little under half of Illinois voters don’t want a cent of public money going to the team’s $5 billion plan — not even to chip in for infrastructure costs, the kind of subsidies that Bears executives have already acknowledged they’d seek.

The survey last week of 770 likely general election voters across the state underscores the difficulty the team faces in lining up support for its sprawling proposal to transform the shuttered Arlington International Racecourse into a stadium campus accompanied by scores of new restaurants, businesses and residential buildings.

About 31% of people who took part in the phone and text message survey conducted by Public Policy Polling said they think the Bears should move from Soldier Field to Arlington Heights, compared to 29% who said they think the team should stay put. About 39% said they weren’t sure.

Perhaps not surprisingly, suburban fans are more excited about the potential move, the Sun-Times/WBEZ Poll suggests, as 51% of respondents from suburban Cook County and the collar counties said the team should break ground in the suburbs. Only 19% of Chicago respondents said the team should leave the city, 44% opposed the move, and 37% were unsure.

Voters outside the Chicago area were lukewarm on the entire issue. Only 14% of downstate voters supported the move to Arlington Heights, 27% opposed it, and 59% didn’t know one way or the other.

But in a follow-up question, regardless of where they lived, 45% of all respondents said they would oppose any government funding being used for the stadium or any of the sewers, roads and other infrastructure costs needed to make the massive mixed-use development a reality.

“Why should the taxpayers fund anything? It’s a private organization making tons of money,” said Evanghelos Karasmanakis, a poll respondent who said he’d enjoy having the team closer to his Morton Grove home — as long as it’s not on the taxpayers’ dime.

“They’re making huge profits, and everyone still watches even though they never win.”

Twenty-eight percent of respondents were open to public financing for the infrastructure alone, while 12% said they’d even be OK with giving the team money for the stadium itself — something the team has vowed not to ask for.

The remaining 15% of respondents to the Sun-Times/WBEZ Poll said they’re not sure how they feel about the prospect of public money going into an Arlington Heights stadium or the rest of the 326-acre plot that the team wants to round out with other amenities.

The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, but that margin widens when the results are broken down into smaller categories, including by region.

During his first direct pitch to Arlington Heights residents last month, Bears chairman George McCaskey said the team wouldn’t ask for public assistance for any of the stadium construction — with the caveat that “we will need help” with associated costs.

“Without infrastructure support and property tax certainty, the project as described to you will not be able to move forward,” McCaskey said.

That message didn’t land with poll respondent Nicholas Goodale, who said the team’s framing “feels a little like a shell game.”

“If you need to build out access roads, expand transit and a bunch of other things that wouldn’t have been necessary otherwise, then that’s part of the project,” said Goodale, a casual Bears fan from Lincoln Park who’d rather see the team stay on the lakefront. “It’s just a way for them to make it more palatable for voters and the politicians who have to sign off on it.”

There are plenty more T’s to cross and I’s to dot before the team’s X’s and O’s shift to suburbia, though. The Bears’ $197 million purchase of Arlington International Racecourse from Churchill Downs Inc. isn’t expected to close until early next year. They haven’t even nailed down a conceptual design for the stadium, though they’ve said it’ll have a dome and seat plenty more than Soldier Field’s lowest-in-the-NFL capacity of 61,500.

Arlington Heights trustees are weighing a “pre-development agreement” with the team, which would commit the village to exploring public financing for infrastructure, including through tax increment financing, a business district tax and other possibilities.

That’s OK by Daniel Wehrenberg, who lives within walking distance of Soldier Field, a “pathetic stadium that’s beyond remedy,” by his estimation. The poll respondent said the team is due for a new home in the burbs, and that he’s fine with public dollars going into the project — but that the help should come mostly from the team’s new host, he said.

“If Arlington wants them out there, they should be ready to contribute,” Wehrenberg said.

Village trustees are slated to vote on the non-binding pre-development agreement Nov. 7. A final deal is still months away, at least. If the deal is approved, the team has said it could take a decade for the project to come to fruition.

The Bears’ lease at Soldier Field runs through 2033, but they could break the deal early for what would be small potatoes in the grand scheme of financing a new stadium.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot launched a Hail Mary this summer to keep the team in Chicago with a proposal to put a dome over Soldier Field, but Bears execs have said they’re only considering Arlington Heights.

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Blackhawks’ 13th draft pick in the 2022 NHL draft, Frank Nazar is due to have a lower body surgery and miss significant time. 

Frank Nazar, a Chicago Blackhawks 2022 first-round draft pick and University of Michigan freshman center, will have surgery to address a lower-body injury and will be out for the foreseeable future, Michigan interim coach Brandon Naurato said on Tuesday.

Nazar already was injured when he arrived for the school year, Naurato said.

“I think from our standpoint, we’re just worrying about his overall health more than anything like long-term,” Naurato said. “We just want to do it right versus rushing him back. When he does come back, it’ll be when he’s 100 percent. … If you wait or just try stuff out and it doesn’t work, you’re just pushing timelines back. Just trying to do what’s right by him.”

The 18-year old participated in Team USA’s World Junior camp and attended the Blackhawks’ development camp earlier this summer.

Nazar was considered one of the top freshmen in the country entering the college season after starring at the United States National Team Development Program.

He produced 28 goals and 42 assists in 56 games for the program last season. The Blackhawks traded Kirby Dach to the Montreal Canadiens for his services.

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The Houston Texans cut a cornerback Tuesday

The Houston Texans made some roster moves this week, including one that involved a former Chicago Bears cornerback. The Texans were looking to add help at safety earlier in the week. According to Aaron Wilson with KPRC in Houston, the Texans signed safety C.J. Moore to the team’s practice squad. The Texans cut BoPete Keyes from the practice squad to make room for Moore.

Will the former Chicago Bears CB be signed to the team off waivers?

Keyes was a teammate of Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney at Tulane. He was signed to the Bears practice squad in 2021. The Bears cut Keyes in training camp this year. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Keyes in the seventh round of the 2020 draft. The former Chicago Bear has appeared in 13 NFL games since. According to Pro Football Focus, Keyes has given up five receptions on seven targets in his career. One of the receptions was for a touchdown.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Bears try to claim Keyes. The Bears have three defensive backs on the practice squad. Not to mention, Keyes has a similar PFF grade to Jaylon Jones. Keyes does bring NFL game experience that could be useful to the Bears this season.

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The HITS principle that is the foundation of Matt Eberflus’ coaching philosophy has been alternatively praise and mocked by football pundits since he rolled it out at his introductory press conference. At first, there was a reflexive cynicism to the hokeyness of a professional coach relying on simplistic acronyms. However, many where willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as the principles are solid even if the delivery mechanism is tired.

HITS stands for: Hustle, intensity, takeaways and (playing) smart. This was clearly successful in their opening day comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers both from a coaching and player perspective. He coached conservatively, making sure the Bears didn’t compound poor field position into mistakes by trying to force the issue in bad down and distance situations. The Bears bided their time, avoided the big mistakes and eventually created turnovers and took advantage of them once they occurred.

Actually the “T” in HITS stands for protecting the football as well as taking it away. Eberflus’ explained it this was at his initial presser:” T is taking care of the ball and taking the ball away. It’s all about the ball. That’s the most important thing for winning and losing, is taking the ball away and protecting the football.”

This worked (or was adhered to) in week one as they won the turnover battle and did a good job protecting the ball despite the sloppy conditions. The next four weeks were a wash in terms of turnovers—a timely takeaway could have led to a victory in the Giants and Vikings game—or the lack of a turnover in the case of Velus Jones’ muffed point.

Against Washington, the Bears lost the turnover battle and failed across the board in implementation of HITS, losing the game despite dominated the stat sheet; failing repeatedly in the red zone, a key component of the “S” in HITS.

Bears Need to Hold Players Accountable to HITS

This was a bad development. With any philosophy—particularly one that is committed to paper and the basis for your entire approach to the game—there has to be consequences, both when it is adhered to and when it is not.

Eberflus’ described the “S” in HITS this way: It’s being smart, situation players. No stupid penalties, we want to be great in the red zone, third down, two-minute, backed-up and being smart situational players.”

Velus Jones second muffed put in three games led to the Commanders only touchdown and wasn’t the only failure to adhere to the HITS principle, by a player or the coaching staff. As mentioned above, being smart situationally in the red zone and in two-minute situations is a key HITS principle.

The Bears had three trips inside of Washington’s five-yard-line without a score—not without a touchdown, but without a score. Three field goals would have meant a victory. Relying on field goals is not a bad thing, especially when your defense is playing as well as the Bears D played against the Commanders.

Bears Coach Staff Need to be Held to Account

The Bears were stopped on a fourth down inside the one-yard -line when Khalil Herbert was stuffed. Herbert is the back-up half back. He has been successful rushing the ball but is not as strong as Montgomery and does not have the same ability to gain yardage after initial contact. Using Herbert in that situation violated the principle of “smart situational football.”

In the loss to the Vikings, the Bears had a chance to come back and tie or win the game after the Vikings took back the lead late in the game. After a couple of positive plays, they moved the ball into Viking territory. Then receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette made a catch along the sideline and instead of going out of bonds tried to cut it back for more yardage. This was a huge mistake on its own and was tragically compounded when he was stripped of the football, effectively ending the game. Two violations of HITS in one play.

Bears Violate HITS Principle

It is hard to apply the HITS principle to a team coming up against superior competition and the Bears can’t magically turn this group of wager wire castoff receivers into top round difference makers, but they can hold them to account for poor situational play. If Jones is having trouble following the ball on a punt, he could have raced forward blocked the gunner in hopes the kick would go into the end zone for a touchback. Or, given his lack of experience and his muff in a key situation at the end of the Vikings game, perhaps he shouldn’t have been out there in that situation.

In the case of Smith-Marsette, it is important to get out of bounds in that situation. This was such a poor decision that it may have been useful to release him as Velus Jones became eligible the following week. As mentioned above, if you base your approach to the game on the HITS principle, there has to be consequences for violations of the key tenets.

Smith-Marsette was later waived by the Bears ahead of Week 7.

Coach Eberflus says he will reevaluate every player in the mini-bye week prior to the New England Patriots game. He also needs to evaluate the team’s play calling and red zone offense to ensure he is holding up his end of the HITS principle.

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Jordan Lynch was the king of the world. Like Ali in the center of the ring after KO-ing Sonny Liston in 1964. Like DiCaprio in “Titanic” in 1997. OK, maybe not quite like those giants, but, man, did Lynch ever have it all going his way 10 years ago this fall. He was the quarterback of Northern Illinois, nobody could stop him and his Orange Bowl-bound Huskies couldn’t lose.

Now 32, Lynch still has reasons to ride out to DeKalb from the South Side. For one thing, his little brother, Justin, is a quarterback there. For another, it just feels so damn good.

“Believe me, when I step on that field now, I’d do anything to play again,” he said. “That’s for sure.”

But football weekends don’t belong to the Huskies anymore. They belong to the Caravan. Lynch grabbed the coaching reins at his alma mater, Mount Carmel, in 2018, won a Class 7A title — with Justin as his QB — in 2019 and now has what might be his best team yet.

The Caravan are 8-0. Loyola Academy is 8-0. Which team is the area’s true No. 1 superpower this season, we’ll find out in Saturday’s regular-season finale in Wilmette.

The game of the year on our high school scene might not be as big a deal as it was when NIU won its way into a New Year’s Day clash against mighty Florida State to cap a dream 2012 season, but those heady days are gone. Lynch is a high school coach — a very good one — and when it comes to the craving for football competition that still pumps through his veins, that more than gets the job done.

“I found a new love,” he said, “a new football fix that makes it easy not to look back and miss playing too much. I fell in love with coaching. …

“I get the same feeling, the same excitement, the same exact everything as if I was playing quarterback in the Orange Bowl or if I was on stage as a Heisman Trophy finalist, or if I was coaching college football. I get the same excitement in high school every game, not just this [Loyola] game. We can be playing whoever, with the love for the game that I have.”

But has it really been 10 years already since Lynch blew up on the college stage, competing for headlines with big-school BMOCs like Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o and South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney? Where does the time go?

Lynch was a first-time starter — a junior — when NIU fell 18-17 to Iowa at Soldier Field in the 2012 opener. The Huskies lost a 17-9 fourth-quarter lead in that game, but going toe-to-toe with the Hawkeyes hardened Lynch’s belief in what was coming. And that was 12 straight wins as Lynch’s play grew into a storm the rest of the country couldn’t ignore.

Lynch rushed for 1,815 yards and became the first FBS player to run for 1,500 and pass for 3,000 in a season. He led the Mid-American Conference in rushing and passing efficiency and gained at least 100 yards on the ground 11 times, three more than any other player in the land. In the MAC title game against Kent State in Detroit, he threw for 212 yards and ran for 160, breaking the FBS record held by Michigan’s Denard Robinson for rushing yards in a season.

It was so good, it demanded a follow-up. So Lynch — from out of left field no more — came back in 2013, led the Huskies to 12 more wins and finished third, behind rock-star QBs Jameis Winston of Florida State and A.J. McCarron of Alabama, in the Heisman voting.

Twenty-four wins in two seasons. Precisely 100 touchdowns — 51 passing, 48 rushing and one receiving — accounted for. That’s a career, folks. That’s a legacy.

“I just put one foot in front of the other every day and kept chipping away,” Lynch said. “That’s all it ever was.”

A decade later, he’s gunning for another state title. First, the Caravan will tangle with Loyola, a Class 8A Goliath. That pits Lynch against Ramblers coach John Holecek, himself a former college star — at Illinois — before a long, successful career as an NFL linebacker.

It’s just high school ball. Still a heck of a big deal, though, right?

“Everything I’ve earned or gotten in my life, I had to work my ass off for,” Lynch said. “But that’s football. That’s what the game is. I’m proud to be doing this.”

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When Bears quarterback Justin Fields expressed frustration following the 12-7 loss to the Commanders on Thursday night — “We always get told that we’re almost there. I’m tired of being almost there” — it left people wondering who’s telling him that. Even if you accentuate the positive, the Bears’ offense looks like it has a long way to go.

But cornerback Jaylon Johnson put that lament into a more palatable context Tuesday, with the Bears hoping to end a three-game losing streak against the Patriots on Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium.

“Close to winning,” Johnson said. “I feel like that comes from our coaches and I wouldn’t say they’re lying. I wouldn’t say they’re saying it just to say it. We are doing some things better. But a lot of that is overshadowed by the loss.”

Indeed, while the offense languishes near or at the bottom of the NFL in many key categories, and the Bears seem like a long way from serious postseason contention, they are close to winning. The the three consecutive losses that have dropped them to 2-4 have been by a touchdown or less — to the Giants (20-12), the Vikings (29-22) and the Commanders (12-7).

They’ve led in every game this season, including the fourth quarter against the Vikings (22-21) and Commanders (7-3).

“Considering how we’ve been losing these last few weeks, I think we’re pretty close,” Johnson said. “It’s just executing down the stretch. Like any team, there are things to improve. If we [had] won our close games, I feel like the conversations [about] this team would be different. But we’ve shot ourselves in the foot these last few games [that] we’ve lost at the end.”

Johnson’s perspective on the defense is quite different from the offense’s view of things. The Bears’ defense has its issues — the Bears are 29th in the NFL in rushing defense (163 yards per game) and 23rd in sacks (11). But while the defense hasn’t been the anchor coach Matt Eberflus needs it to be while the offense crawls before it walks, it’s still their strength and best hope to win. The Bears are fourth in the NFL in second-half scoring defense (5.8 points per game).

The Bears haven’t been very good at complementary football. The defense made stops that gave the Bears a chance to tie or win against the Giants and Commanders, but punt-return mishaps proved fatal. But when the offense rallied from a 21-3 deficit to take a 22-21 lead against the Vikings in the fourth quarter, the defense broke down — allowing a 17-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that made the difference.

If the Bears are close, they have one huge hurdle to clear. They have to learn how to finish. That’s rarely an easy problem to solve in 10 days.

“Outside of executing?” Johnson said when asked how a teams learns how to put the hammer down. “It’s not too much to change. In that moment, you’ve got to find a way to get it done.”

Every team in the NFL thinks they’re close. The Texans (1-3-1) are 31st in most power rankings, but have a points-differential of minus-13 — better than the AFC South-leading Titans (3-2, minus-22) and second-place Colts (3-2-1, minus-18). The Bears’ minus-25 differential is only three points lower than the defending Super Bowl champion Rams (3-3, minus-22).

“Everybody has been in a situation where they’ve had their backs against the wall and had to fight their way out of it. That’s the situation we’re in,” Johnson said. “There’s times in crunch time, where a play has to be made and we haven’t been on the right side of making those plays.

“We just have to find a way. It’s different for each person, but we’ve got to find a way to win our individual matchups to help the team win.”

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