Chicago Sports

Andre Drummond wants to be the best rebounder the NBA has ever seen

Andre Drummond signed a 2-year $6.5 million dollar deal in the offseason with the Chicago Bulls. Ahead of his first season with Chicago, Drummond is a man on a mission. Andre Drummond has had one goal ever since he first stepped onto an NBA court: to be the best rebounder to ever play the game of basketball.

The Bulls seriously lucked out by adding Drummond to the team. With the addition of Drummond, the Bulls have a luxury coming off the bench. At the moment, the team’s starting center is Nikola Vucevic which means they have a two-time all-star, a 4-time rebounding champ, and an all-NBA player all in one coming off the bench in Andre Drummond. Drummond claims he does not care if he’s coming off the bench or if he’s in the starting 5.

I’m a player that is able to adjust and adapt to any situation. If my services are needed to be a starter, I can be that. If my services are needed to be a spark off the bench, that’s what I’m here to do. My ego is not something that is driven by this game. I play the game because I love it

Drummond’s role has changed

In the past few years, Andre Drummond has seen his role change drastically. At one point in his career, Drummond was the vocal point on offense for the Detroit Pistons averaging 15 rebounds a game for 4 straight seasons. After this point, Drummond journeyed around the NBA making stops in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and now Chicago. One thing has remained consistent for Drummond throughout his career. He is a rebounding machine.

Andre Drummond is a glass cleaning machine

Drummond is very proud of his rebounding skills.

I take pride in it. It’s something I hung my hat on from my rookie year, wanting to be known as the best rebounder to play this game. That’s what I set out to do

Throughout his career Drummond has averaged 13.3 rebounds per game which is the most for active players and good for 11th most all time. Drummond’s best rebounding season came in 2017-2018 when he lead the NBA with 1,247 rebounds and averaged 16 rebounds A game.

Most recently in Brooklyn Drummond averaged over 10 rebounds a game in just 22 minutes a game over a span of 24 games. In total for the 2021-22 NBA season Drummond averaged 9.3 rebounds per game which was good for 17th in the league all while averaging under 20 minutes a game. Had Drummond logged enough minutes under his belt last season his rebounding percentage of 26.2 would have been the best mark in the league edging out Rudy Gobert at 25%. These numbers just point to the fact that Andre Drummond is still an elite rebounder entering his 14th NBA season.

How the addition of Drummond will help Chicago

Last season the Bulls rebounding was subpar at best. They were tied for 28th with 42.3 rebounds per game and ranked 17th with a 49.5 rebound percentage. Andre Drummond will bring a much needed elite level glass cleaning presence to the team that will no doubt only improve the team overall.

Drummond currently sits at 46th overall in terms of total rebounds for all time so he has a long way to go if he wants to be known as the best rebounder of all time however you have to love the confidence Drummond has in his abilities and his drive to want to be the greatest in a particular area.

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Will the Chicago Bears move on from Justin Fields next year?

In the summer, local Chicago media and fans thought national media talking heads like Mike Florio were out of their minds for “hot takes” on the new regime. Florio’s theory in April was that first-year general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus weren’t sold on the previous regime’s second-year quarterback Justin Fields.

How four games can change a city. The fickle Chicago Bears fanbase is ready to throw in the towel on Fields’ career. Poor play in the passing game is a typical fall Sunday afternoon in Chicago. However, the early 2022 campaign has been exceedingly terrible.

Michael Renner with Pro Football Focus thinks the Bears will be done with the Fields experiment after this season. In their 2023 mock draft, Renner has the Bears taking Alabama quarterback and 2021 Heisman winner Bryce Young with the 4th overall pick:

At 6-foot and 194 pounds, Young won’t tick all the boxes physically. When he steps on the field, though, he ticks boxes left and right. He’s already earned a 91.3 overall grade this season without the two top-50 draft picks he lost at receiver from last season.

This would be a terrible pick for the Chicago Bears

Young won’t tick any boxes for the Chicago Bears. Add three years of NFL experience, plug him into this offense, and he’s not doing any better than Fields. In fact, with his slight frame, center Sam Mustipher is probably calling Young’s mother Julie before Bryce’s wake in late September to apologize.

Renner must be looking at overall season stats instead of watching the games this season on Young. At this point in the season, Young’s stats should be sky high, like one’s blood sugar after eating dessert, as Alabama has had a month full of cupcakes to start the season. His only real tests, Texas and Arkansas, were ones Young hopes aren’t viewed by scouts before the NFL draft. Young had 173 yards passing against Arkansas. That doesn’t seem like a passing total that impresses Bears fans.

The Chicago Bears are too depleted all over the roster to draft a quarterback in 2023. Before considering a backup for Fields, the team needs to find help at the EDGE, defensive tackle, wide receiver, and offensive linemen positions. Young wouldn’t have a chance in Chicago without first-round help on the offense. And they can’t give that to Young if they draft him fourth overall. It would just repeat the cycle of the permanent rebuild.

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Lukas Reichel needed to have an extremely impressive training camp to make the Blackhawks’ initial NHL roster.

Ultimately, Reichel had a good camp, but it wasn’t spectacular enough to change general manager Kyle Davidson’s mind about the best way to handle his top prospect.

Reichel was sent down to the AHL on Tuesday, headlining several large waves of cuts. Davidson and coach Luke Richardson met with him to break the news.

“Kyle said, ‘I’m sure this is not the news you want to hear, but we want you to go down and continue to play,'” Richardson relayed. “Instead of a guy like [him] staying here and battling to stay in the lineup in a fourth-line role…why not go down and be the best center down there?

“[You can] work on your game, get a little harder in 1-on-1 battles, manage the puck and light it up. So when you get a chance here, you’re firing on all cylinders and you’ll show your best. That was the message to him.”

Reichel predictably dominated the two prospect games in early September. He held his own in two preseason appearances, too, including scoring a beautiful, glimpse-of-the-future goal assisted by Kevin Korchinski against the Red Wings last week.

But Richardson thought Reichel’s defensive performance wasn’t as consistent, showing him two clips from that Wings game as examples. In one, Reichel turned the puck over to Dylan Larkin, resulting in a shift spent in the defensive zone. In another, Philipp Kurashev successfully dumped the puck in, leading to an offensive-zone shift and a scoring chance for Reichel.

The hands-on new coach described it as a learning moment for his 20-year-old German center.

“For an NHL-[caliber], elite-skills guy, [he’s] just not quite there yet,” Richardson said. “He had a pretty good attitude in the meeting. He took it really well. I’m pretty sure he knows there’s going to be opportunity here this year.”

Two other factors also help explain Reichel’s AHL assignment. Firstly, winning in Rockford –the IceHogs are built to be one of the AHL’s best teams –will boost Reichel’s confidence, whereas losing in Chicago would not.

Secondly, having Reichel in the NHL could counteract Davidson’s unstated goal of tanking. Reichel may not be flawless yet, but he’s almost certainly one of the Hawks’ 12 best forwards, and his elite puck-carrying and zone-entering abilities would be valuable alongside someone like Patrick Kane. But that could create more goals, more wins and potentially reduce the Hawks’ chances of earning a top-three draft pick.

In any case, Reichel has plenty of company en route to Rockford, including Josiah Slavin, Isaak Phillips and Arvid Soderblom. Korchinski was returned to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, as well.

Meanwhile, Dylan Sikura, Brett Seney, Luke Philp and Nicolas Beaudin were placed on waivers Tuesday and will be sent down if unclaimed.

Plenty more transactions will be made over the week ahead, including likely placing Boris Katchouk (ankle), Jake McCabe (spine) and Ian Mitchell (wrist) on injured reserve. Conversely, Jujhar Khaira (ankle), Connor Murphy (back) and Caleb Jones (shoulder) are day-to-day and should be ready for the season opener.

It appears Buddy Robinson might be the forward who unexpectedly earns an NHL spot in Katchouk’s stead. The towering 6-6, 232-pound 31-year-old touts a long AHL history but made a career-high 32 NHL appearances for the Ducks last season, tallying six points.

On defense, Swedish import Filip Roos outlasting Phillips means he’s the actual third candidate –in addition to Alec Regula and Alex Vlasic –battling for the two open roster spots.

Richardson mixed up lines in practice Tuesday, notably moving Jonathan Toews and Tyler Johnson next to Kane — and moving Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou elsewhere. The experimentation will continue during the Hawks’ final preseason games: Thursday at the Wild and Saturday at the Blues.

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Dalen Terry did check some boxes throughout training camp.

The Bulls rookie admittedly started to get a feel of the speed of the NBA game, continued the work in progress that will be his three-point shot, and brought a promised intensity with that second unit.

That doesn’t mean that Terry will be a factor when the games start to count in a few weeks. Heck, as long as there are no further injuries, he might not even be in the rotation at the start of the regular season.

That’s the reality Terry has been dealing with, hoping to use the four preseason games to change that narrative.

“Do whatever I can do to stay on the floor,” Terry said Tuesday, when asked about a role. “If Coach [Billy Donovan] says he needs me to play defense and not even shoot the ball, that’s what he needs me to do. If he tells me I need to go out there and try to score the ball and do little things and all that, I’ll do that too. It’s just whatever they ask of me is what I’m gonna try to do.”

And that included eventually going down to the G-League if the organization feels he needs to get minutes down there.

It’s that mentality that might be the most impressive trait Terry has displayed so far. Even though he’s a first-round pick (18th overall), he’s not above whatever will be asked of him.

That hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“He’s a hell of a passer and like a Swiss army knife,” All-Star guard Zach LaVine said of what the rookie has shown. “He’s gonna have to go through every rookie up and down just like everybody. He brings a great attitude to the locker room, I think that’s very important.”

What Terry has in his favor? A precedent.

Last year, second-round pick Ayo Dosunmu was in a similar situation. He entered the regular season promised little in the minutes department, and early on had a two-minute stint and even a DNP [Did Not Play] Coach’s Decision.

Once the injuries hit, however, Dosunmu showed his value and never looked back. That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Terry.

“[Dosunmu] gives me tips every day,” Terry said. “He’s actually one of the guys on the team that talks to me the most, just talks me through stuff. I give credit to him, because I watched the Bulls last year and I saw what he did and how he went from playing nothing to a lot.”

Turning up the Heat

These three remaining preseason games are nice little pick-up exhibitions for the Bulls, but the veterans know the real test of what this group will start to look like doesn’t come until the regular-season tip-off on Oct. 19, in Miami.

Then it’s right into the fire of dealing with “Heat Culture.”

Few are more acquainted with that than Goran Dragic, who spent seven seasons playing with Miami and knows what awaits.

“It’s way different,” Dragic said of how the Heat handle training camp and every-day practices. “I mean they hold you accountable. You have to [have] body fat [measured] every week, have to come in and do pre-practice, practice, every practice is basically Hunger Games. You have to put the pads on, tape your ankles, and it’s basically like [regular-season] games. Iron sharpens iron, and that’s how they approach it.”

Asked where the Bulls training camp stacked up, Dragic did call it “intense.”

“From Day 1 through the last day of training camp, the guys worked hard,” Dragic said. “[Donovan] said the main focus was they needed to get better than last year, and I felt like everybody that came in had that mentality.”

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OK, fine, I’ll be the one to say it:

The White Sox should hire Joe Maddon as their next manager.

The solution for the Sox is right there under their noses. Well, technically, Maddon is hanging out in his hometown of Hazleton, Pa., and soon, when it gets too chilly to golf there, he’ll head out to Mesa, Ariz. But the man has been known to spend some quality time in Chicago.

Your move, Rick Hahn. And Kenny Williams. And Jerry Reinsdorf and whoever else will have a hand in this decision. It’s not really that complicated, is it? Do simple better, embrace the target and — this is important — try not to suck.

Maddon, 68 — oh, stop, that isn’t old — is ready to manage again.

“Once the season’s over, I would anticipate some kind of requests or phone calls,” he told the Sun-Times, “and I’m just going to wait and see what all shows up.”

Maddon does have stipulations he wants to make crystal clear, stemming from his years with the Cubs — particularly toward the end — and his experience with the Angels, who fired him in June. Specifically, he needs to be able to manage his way, with the backing of the front office, and not the other way around. If he isn’t allowed to prepare for a game without the door to his office being used as a turnstile by management and its minions, it’s going to be a problem. If lineup cards are essentially going to be filled out for him, this whole idea is a non-starter.

Yes, this is about analytics. Isn’t it always? Maddon believes in their usefulness, but not to the exclusion of whatever else a skipper who’s been around the block and just might be innately gifted has to offer.

“I don’t like some of the methods incorporated in the game and the fact that analytics has taken over baseball to the point where baseball serves analytics as opposed to analytics serving baseball,” he said. “That’s my rub right now. I’d like to see it actually put in its place, for lack of a better term, and be an aid, not be an end-all, and put baseball in the forefront again and have it be supported.”

Maddon expounds on this in a new book, “The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life,” which goes on sale Oct. 11. During baseball’s pandemic shutdown in 2020, he recorded 100 hours over nearly as many rides on his bicycle in the Arizona heat. A Sony dictaphone in his pocket and a microphone clipped to his shirt, he went chronologically through his life and his baseball career, uploading the sound daily and sending it to his publisher, his literary agent and co-author Tom Verducci.

“Dig deeper,” they’d tell him, and he would dutifully oblige.

He thought he’d be managing the Angels when the book came out, but a 12-game losing streak to end a 157-172 stint got in the way of that plan. So did the way things worked — or didn’t — with his bosses in Anaheim. It’s for the best, he figures.

“The timing of the book is perfect, if unintentional, because now everybody knows exactly what I feel about things and where I stand,” he said. “So I think the suitors will be sincere, and, if I hear from people, that’s great because they like it. If I don’t, because they didn’t like it, that’s fine, too.”

You know what’s likable? Six straight winning seasons in Tampa and the first four postseason appearances in franchise history, beginning with a run to the World Series in 2008 that included a 3-1 division-series knockout of the Sox. And 97-, 103-, 92- and 95-win campaigns in the first four of his five years with the Cubs, before then-president Theo Epstein made his World Series-winning skipper a lame duck in 2019.

“In my perspective, it should’ve never happened that way,” Maddon said. “We should’ve been there longer together, and that includes Theo [who left in 2020].”

Maddon’s pennant-winning squad in Tampa had a position-player core of Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton, Dioner Navarro and Carl Crawford. By the end there, he was winning with Longoria, James Loney, Ben Zobrist, Desmond Jennings and Yunel Escobar.

Ask yourself: What the heck did they have that Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn don’t?

Maddon in the dugout, for one. But more talent? More potential? Not a chance.

During the abbreviated 2020 season, Maddon became pretty tight with then-Angels executive Tony La Russa and discovered they see many things about the game similarly. Is that an instant red flag? Not to me. La Russa was, with the Sox, a Hall-of-Famer who’d lost his fastball. Dismissing him beyond that seems petty and intellectually lazy.

After La Russa, though, it would take guts for the Sox to hire Maddon or, for that matter, anyone else of whom a sizable slice of the fan base would not approve. Then again, Sox fans are conditioned by now to be dubious.

Maddon? He’s older than most. He’s most famous for winning it all with the hated Cubs. He made some funky moves with the North Siders, too, like sending reliever Aroldis Chapman out for a third inning in Game 6 of the World Series.

“I know that was the wrong thing to do,” Maddon says now.

Ooh, so we can cross that off the “cons” list? Nice.

The truth is, it doesn’t leave much to yammer and fret about.

Said Maddon of his friend La Russa, “Regardless of what people might have been saying, he was still going to do what he thought he should do in the moment, which I appreciate.”

That’s all Maddon hopes to do going forward, and the Sox should take keen interest in how that could play out. After all, this is no ordinary Joe.

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The Bears looked like they aced out the Vikings for general manager Ryan Poles in January when they offered Poles the job before he could go back to Minneapolis for a second interview as one of two finalists to replace Rick Spielman.

The Vikings hired the other finalist –Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, a former commodities trader who was the Browns’ vice-president of football operations and had interviewed with the Bears.

Regardless of whether Poles chose the Bears over the Vikings (he had not been offered the Vikings job), it was on paper a victory of sorts for the Bears — they hired a candidate someone else wanted. Poles was one of the hottest GM candidates in this year’s cycle, and the Bears made the quick move to keep him from the Vikings. For a franchise that once hired Phil Emery over Jason Licht — and subsequently Marc Trestman over Bruce Arians — that’s pretty good.

Poles and Adofo-Mensah come from different worlds. Poles played on the offensive line at Boston College. Adofo-Mensah played basketball at Princeton. Poles is rooted infootball-gene, eye-test talent evaluation under three football-guy GMs with the Chiefs. Adofo-Mensah has a master’s degree in economics from Stanford and grew up in the world of analytics with the 49ers and Browns.

They can both succeed and both fail. Poles is more than a football guy. Adofo-Mensah is more than an analytics guy. Poles hired a defensive-minded coach in Matt Eberflus. Adofo-Mensah hired a Sean McVay protege in Kevin O’Connell. They both were hired when Aaron Rodgers was 38 and not 31 — a factor that can’t be ignored in the NFC North.

Both GMs took unexpected paths in their first draft. Poles, with Justin Fields in a developmental mode, took defensive players with his first two draft picks — cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker in the second round. Adofo-Mensah traded the No. 12 overall pick to the division-rival Lions and moved down 20 spots to No. 32 to get Georgia safety Lewis Cine.

The Vikings are 3-1 with a victory over the Packers already this season. But Poles’ has the early edge in the draft. The Bears have three starters out of 11 draft picks — Gordon, Brisker and fifth-round left tackle Braxton Jones, plus a rotation contributor in defensive end Dominique Robinson and punter Trenton Gill.

The Vikings have one rookie starter of their 10 draft picks in second-round right guard Ed Ingram. Cine had played only two defensive snaps this season when he suffered a season-ending broken leg blocking on a punt return against the Saints in London last week.

Second-round cornerback Andrew Booth has played just two snaps — both on special teams –because of a quad injury. Third-round linebacker Brian Asamoah has played only special teams. Fourth-round cornerback Akayleb Evans has played 32 snaps on defense. Then again, Adofo-Mensah didn’t clear the decks in a total rebuild like Poles has done, so he had fewer openings for rookies. It’s early.

And both rookie GMs are veering toward big decisions at quarterback. For Adofo-Mensah, it’s whether he can win a Super Bowl with Kirk Cousins. For Poles, it’s whether Justin Fields is the long-term answer. Regardless of their background, experience or style, all NFL general managers share one thing in common — they have to get the quarterback right.

2. Nobody has to write an apology to Matt Nagy, but the notion that Fields, Darnell Mooney, Cole Kmet and others would suddenly blossom when they were no longer shackled by the Nagy offense hasn’t come to fruition.

Even with a minimum workload, Fields is completing 50.7% of his passes — the lowest in the NFL among quarterbacks who have started three or more games. Mitch Trubisky was benched with the Steelers on Sunday, with a 59.5 completion percentage, 5.6 yards per attempt and a 73.7 passer rating –all below his Bears numbers. Allen Robinson has nine receptions for 95 yards and one touchdown with Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford on the Rams.

Even if you factor in that all are in the early stages of a new offense, those numbers are below expectations. So the answer to the “Was it Matt Nagy or …” question is pretty clear: “Both.”

3. Did You Know? The 98 rushing yards on nine carries by Giants quarterbacks Sunday (Daniel Jones, 6-68; Tyrod Taylor 3-30) were the most quarterback rushing yards allowed by the Bears since 1976, when Broncos’ back-up Norris Weese — an early replacement for injured starter Craig Penrose, had 12 carries for 120 yards in a 28-14 victory at Soldier Field.

4. There’s not a lot to like about the Bears’ offense right now, but there was nothing fluky about Khalil Herbert’s 23-yard gain on a well-executed third-and-20 screen pass in the second quarter.

That was the Bears’ first conversion of a third-and-20 or longer since 2007, when Garrett Wolfe gained 32 yards on a third-and-27 screen pass in Week 17 against the Saints.

5. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson has missed the last two games with a quad injury he suffered in practice, but will be needed more than ever against the Vikings and Justin Jefferson, who had 10 receptions for 147 yards in a 28-25 victory over the Saints in London last week. Jefferson has had 100 or more receiving yards in three of four games against the Bears (8-135, 8-104, 5-107).

Then again, when the Bears played the Vikings without their entire starting secondary in Week 15 last year, Jefferson was held relatively in check (4-47, one touchdown) by a defensive backfield of Kindle Vildor, Teez Tabor, Thomas Graham, Deon Bush and Marquis Christian.

6. Will jet lag be a factor in the Bears-Vikings game? The Vikings declined the bye week after playing in London last week. Five teams previously have played the week following the overseas trip –they are 2-3 (2-2-1 against the spread), with the Dolphins losing to the Falcons 30-28 last year.

7.The Bears’ failure to react when Fields’ fumbled after he was sacked by linebacker Azeez Ojulari was reminiscent of the defense’s failure to react to Aaron Rodgers’ fumble when he was sacked by Julius Peppers in the fateful 2013 season finale against the Packers.

Guard Cody Whitehair and the linemen in the area of the play and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown were given “loafs” in film review, Eberflus said. But upon review it wasn’t nearly as egregious as the Rodgers fumble, when Bears linebacker James Anderson literally ran over to the loose ball without picking it up, thinking it was an incompletion.

“That one’s a little bit harder [Sunday], because it’s coming from behind,” Eberflus said. “Typically when you have a fumble and I’m a defender, you know we’re punching the ball, we’re all pursuing the ball, we can see the ball. I think Cody got caught off guard, as well as the linemen.”

8. The Bears’ rushing defense (183.3 yards allowed per game) not only is last in the NFL through four weeks, but the highest total through four weeks in the NFL since the 2012 Saints (186.8). In the previous five seasons, the Bears were averaging 87.6 rushing yards per game through four games.

9. Josh McCown Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Saints quarterback Andy Dalton, playing for injured starter Jameis Winston, completed 20-of-28 passes for 236 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a 108.6 passer rating in a 28-25 loss to the Vikings at Tottenham Stadium in London.

10. Bear-ometer: 6-11 –at Vikings (L); vs. Commanders (W); at Patriots (L); at Cowboys (L); vs. Dolphins (L); vs. Lions (W); at Falcons (W); at NY Jets (L); vs. Packers (L); vs. Eagles (L); vs. Bills (L); at Lions (L); vs. Vikings (W).

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The Catholic League is a basketball conference that’s steadily been on the rise over the past decade. With an influx of individual talent while also making a presence at the state level, it’s a league that continues to grab more basketball attention.

As stated by Loyola coach Tom Livatino, the longest tenured coach in the league at 14 years, “The Catholic League has never been in better shape from a basketball standpoint.”

DePaul Prep has a pair of recent third-place state finishes — one in Class 3A in 2018-19 and another one last season in Class 2A. Leo finished second in Class 1A in 2015-16, while St. Ignatius finished third in the state in Class 3A last season.

The schedules Catholic League coaches have put together has also ramped up, putting their respective programs on bigger platforms in high-profile events.

In Mount Carmel’s DeAndre Craig, Brother Rice’s Ahmad Henderson and the St. Ignatius tandem of Jackson Kotecki and Richard Barron, there are four Catholic League seniors who will sign with Division I programs.

St. Rita, which figures to be among the preseason top five when the season begins, has the top three college prospects in the Class of 2024. And sophomores Melvin Bell of St. Rita and Phoenix Gill of St. Ignatius are two of the top five sophomores in the state.

Plus, the Catholic League is unique in a number ways while so many other conferences, though no fault of their own, remain quite vanilla. With basketball improving, the unique brands within the league add to the intrigue.

When you dig deep into the 15-team league, there is a wide-range of, well, just about everything, and it’s way more diverse than meets the eye.

The geographical landscape alone is really unlike any other basketball conference in the state. There are nine schools spread throughout Chicago, ranging from as far south as St. Francis De Sales at 102nd Street to DePaul Prep just north of Belmont Ave. in Roscoe Village.

There is Loyola on the North Shore in Wilmette, Fenwick just outside the city’s West Side in Oak Park, Marmion and Montini in the western suburbs and St. Laurence and Providence in the southwest suburbs.

The schools throughout the league are considerably different in terms of socioeconomic backgrounds, both in their student populations and the neighborhoods they’re in.

There are Class 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A schools. There are all-boys schools and coed schools.

And the gyms they play in are generally in a class of their own, far from the generic, bland, cookie-cutter gyms we predominantly see across high school basketball. (Have you been to Leo for a game?)

With all that being said, the coaching jobs among the 15 schools tend to be dramatically different as well — again, in comparison to other conferences that are more centrally localized.

As a result, the City/Suburban Hoops Report set out to identify which high school basketball coaching job is viewed as the best in the diverse Catholic League.

Coaches throughout the league, both past and present, along with others with strong ties to Catholic League basketball, were polled. They were to consider several factors in ranking the best basketball coaching jobs in the Catholic League, including:

o Winning and tradition.

o Location and access to players.

o Salary/pay for coaches and teachers

oFacilities and resources.

Those surveyed were asked to rank the top five coaching jobs based on the aforementioned criteria. All together, 18 individuals submitted votes. First-place votes received 10 points, second-place votes received eight points, third-place votes seven points, fourth-place votes five points and fifth-place votes three points.

The final results were as follows:

1. DePaul Prep (106 points)

2. De La Salle (88 points)

3. Brother Rice (86 points)

4. Loyola (68 points)

5. Mount Carmel (64 points)

6. Fenwick (63 points)

7. St. Rita (55 points)

8. St. Ignatius (53 points)

9. Leo (16 points)

10. St. Laurence (3 points)

A couple of interesting results from the voting:

DePaul was the one program listed most prominently, landing on the top five list of 17 of the 18 surveyed. That resulted in the Rams landing at No. 1.

Interestingly, there were eight different coaching jobs that received at least one first-place vote for best basketball job. Those first-place votes included: De La Salle (4), Loyola (3), Brother Rice (3), St. Ignatius (2), St. Rita (2), Fenwick (2), DePaul (1) and Mount Carmel (1).

Here are a few of the off-the-record quotes from those who were surveyed:

DePaul Prep

What is coming with their new facilities? I don’t think anyone will come close to matching in the league. … Families want to send their kids to school in a safe area and DePaul provides that. … A lot of diversity in that school. … Playing in Class 2A provides a very favorable path to downstate and regular trips to the Sweet 16 every year. … Tremendous athletic director there in Pat Mahoney. … Building brand new athletic facilities which will be a game-changer. … DePaul has competitive salaries and rich environment for camp money. … Being the only Catholic school on the North Side of the city, east of the expressway and in an affluent area, is a plus. They can attract students from all over the city. … The job is great but Tom Kleinschmidt has been instrumental in making the job great. He built the program from the very bottom of the league, and that is as impressive a rebuild as you can find in the state. … The facilities that are coming will be game-changing for that program. Is that a sell, though, for today? … I don’t know how great the job is, but I really think Kleinschmidt has made that job. … Such a wide draw for student-athletes there. They can tap into so many different zip codes and elementary schools.

De La Salle

Great basketball tradition, alumni base and the administration wants to win. … Perfect area to attract the best players in the area and the resources to make sure those students can attend. … Very strong alumni base. … Central location of De La Salle makes it a great job. … They have had a lot of longevity and consistency within their program, having had only five head coaches since 1961. … Newer facilities are a plus. … Class 3A path they have is favorable. … They are smack right in the middle of the North Side and South Side, so they can pull kids from either direction, and it’s right off the expressway and has fairly decent tuition. … De La Salle has multiple courts where they host events and camps. … De La Salle’s location has the ability to draw in students and athletes from all over the city and surrounding suburbs. … Right off the Metra stop, Green Line, Red Line, the highway. Just 20 minutes from the suburbs and 30 minutes from Indiana. … The facilities are an advantage. It’s the first school in the Catholic League to have its own fieldhouse. … De La Salle has its own buses and transportation system for students, including an activities bus. Between the public transportation and what De La Salle has to offer, there is no better convenience.

Brother Rice

Tradition. Such a great basketball tradition there. … Their gym is one of the toughest places to play, especially in front of a packed house there. … Brother Rice has many natural rivalries against schools in their area that bring excitement to the community. … Basketball is a big deal at Brother Rice which helps attract aspiring basketball players to their school. … So much tradition and success there since Pat Richardson took over the program in 1989. … That’s a hot bed right there for grade school basketball, and it’s an advantage having those schools who also have some quality coaching going on at that level. … When they get it going there, I’m not sure there is more excitement around basketball than at Brother Rice within their community and student body. That’s a big draw.

Loyola

The combination of competitive salaries, very good facilities and top-notch academics is what makes Loyola such a good basketball job. … Loyola has won a lot of games and had success without really any Division I talent in a league and area that’s extremely competitive. Maybe that’s Tom Livatino, but it’s also an indication of the job, type of kid they’re getting there. … The pay and benefits they receive at Loyola are probably the best in the Catholic League. … Loyola has a great advantage with their facilities and resources — the weight room they have, the fieldhouse, the facilities for training and weight training. … The reputation of the school up in that area is a draw for a lot of families.

Fenwick

The location and access to players is one of the best, if not the best, in the entire Catholic League when you can pull from the western suburbs and the West Side of Chicago. … When that gym is full? Love that gym.

Mount Carmel

It’s a football school, but they’ve had a lot of basketball players and talent go through the gym there. … Very nice facilities. … Remember, it’s the last Catholic League school to win a big school basketball state championship. That counts for something, even if it was decades ago. … Mount Carmel really does have access to a lot of players in that immediate area and just beyond.

St. Ignatius

There really is a lot more to sell at Ignatius than people realize. It really offers something different than most of the schools in the league. … A wonderful job because of the location — near downtown, in a wealthy area with wealthy supporters and alumni. … The school has multiple gyms and the campus is beautiful. … It has everything you need to sell to families and players. … Ignatius has one of the best combinations of academics and athletics in the state of Illinois. … What makes it a great job are its high academic standards, beautiful campus, central location in the city, recent athletic success. … St. Ignatius can be one of the destination schools in the entire region. … Salaries there are an advantage and very competitive which is a draw to that job in comparison to other private schools.

St. Rita

They have a rich history which is important. Before James Brown and Morez Johnson, there was Vic Law, Charles Matthews and other Division I and NBA guys who came out of there. … Overall athletic tradition is huge at St. Rita and that carries over into basketball. They are known for winning and that makes it much easier.

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White Sox manager Tony La Russa has announced his retirement due to health concerns

White Sox manager Tony La Russa’s illustrious hall of fame career is coming to an end after he announced his retirement on Monday afternoon. After 2900 wins, 3 world series championships, and 6 Pennants, the 4-time manager of the year is stepping away from the game of baseball due to health issues. This comes as no surprise as La Russa struggled with his health throughout the year causing him to be away from the White Sox for periods of time.

La Russa hasn’t managed a game since August 30th when he left the field abruptly in a game against the Kansas City Royals. In his absence, Miguel Cairo has been the acting manager for the Chicago White Sox. Under Cairo the White Sox got off to a 13-6 start which put them promptly back in the playoff picture. However, the team struggled after that hot stretch and is now eliminated from postseason contention.

With La Russa’s retirement becoming official the White Sox will now have to name a new manager ahead of the 2023 season. Here are some potential options that Jerry Reinsdorf and the rest of the White Sox front office could look to be at the helm for the team for the 23′ season and possibly beyond.

Experienced options for the White Sox

If the White Sox front office prefers a new manager with managerial experience Brucy Bochy needs to be at the top of that list. Even though Bochy retired after the 2019 season, rumor has it that he would come out of retirement only if he has the opportunity to win a 4th world series ring. Despite a down 22′ season on the South side, the White Sox are not far off by no means from contending. They were practically in the race till the end of the season and with a solid offseason who says they can’t be on top of the central. The White Sox do have the pieces to win, it is just a matter of if the hall of fame manager Bruce Bochy would come out of retirement for them.

Joe Maddon

Joe Maddon is a manager free agent after being recently canned by the Los Angeles Angels after a slow start to the season. Don’t let his recent firing fool you, Joe Maddon is a proven winner. He is best known for his time with the Tampa Bay Rays where he compiled 754 wins and an AL Pennant across 9 years. To Chicago he is the manager that played a huge part in breaking the Cubs curse and winning a world series title back in 2016. Hiring the three time manager of the year to manage the White Sox would be a solid move.

Mike Scioscia

Mike Scioscia hasn’t managed a big league club since 2018. Across his managerial career he has been successful. Scioscia has notched a world series title, 1650 wins, and two manager of the year awards all with the Angels. He is known to work very well with pitchers and catchers as he has received nothing but praise for his game management skills. Scioscia is similar to La Russa in the way that he is an old school type of manager. Meaning he is a no-nonsense kind of guy and can get fired up easily. This may or may not be a great fit for the Chicago White Sox as every manager is different regardless of similarities.

Less Experienced options for the White Sox

If the White Sox vie for a less expierenced manager to be at the helm then they don’t have to look far. Miguel Cairo would make the most sense if this is the route they want to take. Cairo knows the staff and players and currently holds the interim manager title for the White Sox due to Tony La Russa’s absence. Cairo was able to light a fire under the Sox for a period of time leading them to a 13-6 record and back into the postseason picture this season. After this stretch the team did however tailspin and find themselves eliminated from the playoffs. The White Sox could certainly lift the interim tag and see what Cairo could do with a full season as being manager.

Willie Harris

Willie Harris is a very familiar name in the Chicago sports world. He is currently the third base coach for the Chicago Cubs. Harris was a member of the championship 2005 White Sox team. Harris has even managed one of the White Sox minor league affiliates. Harris interviewed in 2020 for the White Sox managerial vacancy so it would only make sense that the White Sox bring him in once more this offseason for another look to be manager.

Sandy Alomar Jr

Sandy Alomar jr is baseball royalty. His father, Sandy Alomar Sr, played 15 seasons in the MLB and Sandy Alomar Jr played a very successful 20 years in the MLB. Across his 20 year career Alomar Jr was a 6 time all star, rookie of the year and a gold glove winner. Alomar is currently an understudy for the White Sox rival the Cleveland Guardians. Alomar is the 1st base coach for the Guardians under a staff managed by hall of fame manager Terry Francona.  Alomar does have some managerial experience as he took the reigns for Cleveland in the covid season.

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