Chicago police exchanged gunfire Dec. 27, 2020, with a man in Washington Park. | Sun-Times file photo
The shootout happened about 10:20 p.m. in the 5100 of block of South Prairie Avenue, where officers responding to a ShotSpotter alert came upon two males in a dark-colored SUV, Chicago police said.
Chicago police exchanged gunfire Sunday with a man in Washington Park while responding to reports of shots fired in the South Side neighborhood.
The shootout happened about 10:20 p.m. in the 5100 of block of South Prairie Avenue, where officers responding to a ShotSpotter alert came upon two males in a dark-colored SUV, Chicago police said.
As officers approached the SUV, someone in the passenger seat opened fire at them, prompting one officer to return fire, according to police.
No one is believed to have been struck, police said. The shooter and the driver of the SUV have not been taken into custody, but a weapon was recovered on the scene.
DePaul Prep’s Perry Cowan (11) pulls up a three pointer against Bogan at state in 2019. | Worsom Robinson/For the Sun-Times
The Sun-Times is counting down the 50 high school basketball programs with the most wins during the decade.
When high school basketball fans think back to the 1980s, programs like Quincy, Providence St. Mel, East St. Louis Lincoln and the arrival of city powers King and Simeon are easy to think back on.
The 1990s brought us memorable basketball giants in Peoria Manual and Thornton, a few steamrolling Proviso East teams and the continued dominance of King.
The first 10 years of the 2000s included Glenbrook North, Peoria High and the beginning of a Simeon juggernaut.
Now, with the calendar inching closer to wrapping up an unforgettable 2020, the end of this month closes out another decade. And it’s another high school basketball time period to look back on.
Earlier this year we broke down the decade’s best teams and best players. Now, with every season of the past decade complete, it’s time to look at the Chicago area programs who won the most.
This list is comprised of the 50 winningest programs over the past 10 years, starting with the 2010-11 season and concluding with the 2019-20 season. Every team in every class throughout the Chicago area will be broken down in a variety of ways. But total wins, with winning percentage used as tie-breaker, determined the rankings.
We present No. 36 DePaul Prep today and will add one program a day going forward.
36. DEPAUL PREP: 191-106
Decade’s biggest storyline: The decade was filled with so many highlights. But the 25-win team in 2018-19 that finished third in the state in Class 3A jumps to the top. The Perry Cowan-led team fell to Bogan in the state semifinals but bounced back to beat Peoria Manual in the third-place game.
Underrated decade highlight: The great Tom Kleinschmidt, who returned to DePaul Prep (formerly Gordon Tech) as head coach, turned the program into a bonafide area power. Kleinschmidt’s impact can’t be overlooked.
Kleinschmidt, who led Gordon Tech to a second-place Class AA finish in 1990 and was a McDonald’s All-American as a senior, has averaged 22 wins a season since the change to DePaul Prep in 2014. He’s emerged as one of the top coaches in the state.
Remember, this was a program that at one point prior to Kleinschmidt’s arrival had lost 36 Catholic League games in a row and had not won a league game in four years.
Player of the Decade: Perry Cowan (2017)
All-Decade Team: Raequan Williams (2015), Perry Cowan (2017), Lance Mosley (2020), Brian Mathews (2021) and TY Johnson (2021)
Sun-Times file photoDePaul Prep’s Raequan Williams (44) backs down St. Ignatius Daniel Ogele (22).
Other decade news and highlights:
–DePaul Prep snapped the 36-game Catholic League losing streak in eye-opening fashion with a shredding of a talented St. Joseph team in 2012-13. Kleinschmidt always believed that win catapulted his program and was the beginning of the belief and the culture within the program.
-The Rams won 26 games last season, including their sixth regional championship of the decade.
-The Rams wereCatholic League Blue champions in 2018-19.
-In the short history of DePaul Prep, Perry Cowan became the all-time leading scorer –– and tops the list of so many other statistical categories.
-Raequan Williams, who was a huge piece of the culture change at DePaul Prep, starred at Michigan State in football and is now playing in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Should Matt Nagy actually return as head coach of the ChicagoBears next season?
Although the future for Matt Nagy should be in doubt according to many fans, the Chicago Bears may not be granting such a request just yet.
Prior to the game on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Bears were exactly 15-15 in their last 30 games. Last season, they ended 8-8. This year, they were sitting at 7-7. The definition of mediocrity is exactly what you’ve seen in Chicago for nearly two seasons now.
So, with nothing truly changing, why wouldn’t the Bears be searching for a new head coach in 2021? Why would they want to continue putting up with a “not bad enough, but not good enough” type of team?
It all stems from leadership, and if you ask a lot of folks, they would tell you Nagy needs to go. But, a report coming out on Sunday morning says differently.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Nagy will likely return in 2021, writing this via Twitter:
“Multiple people around NFL believe the Bears will retain Matt Nagy for 2021, as a win over Jacksonville would ensure three seasons of at least eight wins. Final two weeks must play out but Nagy’s team responded to midseason struggles and coach appears well-positioned.”
The Bears’ offensive resurgence has been a positive, no doubt. But, look at the facts, here. The Bears have scored over 30 points in three straight games, but they’ve done so against the Lions, Texans and Vikings. The best of those defenses is Minnesota, who is right around the middle of the pack overall.
Mitchell Trubisky also looks positioned to return with how he’s responded in his second chance as a starter this year, but his play next week against the Packers will tell us a lot more about who he is at this very moment.
It’s been nice to see the offense put more points on the board, but the part of this report fans should be furious about is this: Fowler specifically stated “three seasons of at least eight wins” being the deciding factor with Nagy.
Three seasons in a row of being O.K. is good enough to keep you around? I suppose, if your name is Marvin Lewis, then you might be safe in that instance. But, the Bears are going to keep Nagy around because he’s won at least eight games in his first three years? That, in and of itself, is a hilarious qualifier when it comes to saving a head coach’s job.
Year 1 was a honeymoon. Year 2, the Bears came back down to earth. This year, once more, mediocrity is at the forefront. So, why is Nagy safe? It’s easy: The Bears are historically cheap, and as long as they aren’t a bad football team, that’s good enough for the McCaskeys.
The ChicagoBlackhawks have signed Carl Soderberg in free agency. The Chicago Blackhawks send another mixed message with their latest free agency signing as they ink Carl Soderberg to a contract in free agency. They have signed him to a one year deal worth one million dollars. Now, it sends the wrong message because he […]
The ChicagoBears got some major help on Saturday in their playoff hunt, and a longtime fan is pretty stoked.
San Francisco 49ers star tight end George Kittle grew up a Chicago Bears fan. He may have been born in Packer country, but the former Iowa Hawkeye is a self-proclaimed lifelong Bears fan — and he still cheers for the Bears if it’s not a head-to-head matchup with his Niners.
Saturday afternoon, Kittle and the 49ers battled it out in an all-important NFC West showdown with the Arizona Cardinals. On one hand, the Niners had already been eliminated from playoff contention. It was all about pride for them — and beating a divisional rival, of course.
On the other hand, the Cardinals were practically in a must-win scenario. In order to stay ahead of the Bears and hold onto the seventh and final seed in the NFC, Arizona had to beat San Francisco — which they did not.
C.J. Beathard tossed three touchdowns in a start and the Niners got a huge game from running back Jeff Wilson (22 carries for 183 yards), and San Francisco won by a score of 20-12.
It was Kittle’s first game back from a foot injury after missing nearly two months, and he put in his share of the work with four catches for 92 yards. Following the win, Kittle seemed pretty thrilled, not only to be back on the field, but to have helped the favorite franchise of his youth.
The full video, which appeared on the 49ers’ YouTube stream, caught Kittle on a hot mic after he had stepped down in the snippet above. The mic caught Kittle saying something not quite suitable for television, but good enough for Bears fans to give the man a fist bump:
“I f***ing love the Bears.”
They say old habits die hard and true love is forever, so the above sentiment makes perfect sense in all reality. The guy plays professional football for one franchise but still holds another one near and dear to his heart.
With the help from Kittle and the Niners, the Bears now enter Sunday’s matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars having a bit more motivation.
There is a legitimate shot Chicago makes the postseason. Yep, believe it or not, after all the gloom and doom this team has endured over the middle portion of the season, they have a chance to make it into the playoffs.
In fact, they do control their own destiny in a way.
Should the Bears beat Jacksonville on Sunday, and the the Packers in Week 17, they’re in. That’s it. They’re in.
However, on the off-chance they lose one of their final two games, the Bears can still make it to the postseason if the Cardinals lose once more in Week 17 to another divisional rival, the Los Angeles Rams.
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