It’s not often that a restaurant makes it past its first five years, let alone spans half a century. That’s why when Lettuce Entertain You, one of Chicago’s most venerable restaurant groups, hit its 50th year this June, I wanted to learn more about its reasons for its success. Many notable chefs, bartenders, and managers … Read moreRead More
It has been a few years since the Chicago Bulls have been a steady playoff threat in the Eastern Conference of the NBA. They feel like they are getting closer to being relevant again but there is a lot of work to do before that happens. They started by hiring a new President of Basketball Operations, General Manager, and Head Coach before the 2020-21 season started.
Chicago Bulls: 3 crazy trade packages for Ben Simmonson June 24, 2021 at 6:05 pm Read More »
Major League Baseball stripped 40 teams of their affiliation in a drastic shakeup of the minor leagues this winter.
Bert Parsley’s vision was bold and unusual — a 35,000 square-foot restaurant and event area adjoining a Harley Davidson dealership.
The space would only work in the right location, and the one he found on Port Charlotte’s El Jobean Road seemed perfect.
“We’re right in front of Charlotte County Sports Complex,” the Twisted Fork restaurant owner recalled thinking. “How could this go wrong?”
Before the eatery even opened, the minor league team that called the stadium home was gone.
When Major League Baseball stripped 40 teams of their affiliation in a drastic shakeup of the minor leagues this winter, most were compensated with an alternative high-level club, such as a college summer league team.
Port Charlotte, Florida, was among a handful of exceptions. The Charlotte Stone Crabs — formerly a Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays — were forced to close entirely, and there’s no plan to replace them. Their departure has left businesses, nonprofits, youth baseball leagues and others in the community seeking ways to replace the revenue and revelry the ball club provided.
“It became a part of the fabric of our organization,” said Lynn Dorler, head of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Charlotte County. “We miss that.”
Parsley had hoped fans filing in and out of the ballpark would provide big business for his unusual space, but since Twisted Fork finally opened last September, he’s had to adjust expectations for the reality that minor league ball might be gone forever from this town on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
“I can only imagine what the games would have done for us,” he said.
The Stone Crabs’ community ties were big and small. Some losses are regrettable but hardly crushing — the Port Charlotte Little League, for example, used to be provided with the baseballs left over each season in the Stone Crabs’ batting cages.
“They were generous,” league President Lou Agosto said. “We miss them in a lot of ways. I wish they didn’t make this move, but it’s something we have to live with.”
Dorler’s Boys & Girls Clubs leaned heavily on the Stone Crabs. The Florida State League team hosted games as early as 10 a.m. to accommodate kids attending the Boys & Girls Clubs’ summer camps, and players were frequent visitors to the organization’s headquarters. Two Stone Crabs general managers even served on the nonprofit’s board of directors.
“Our kids knew Blake Snell before Blake Snell was even in the major leagues,” Dorler said of the 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner. “Willy Adames, when he was in the minor leagues, he was so good with our kids, playing catch with our kids on the field. He just went above and beyond to be friendly to kids in our community.”
The sides coordinated to host a major fundraising gala for the Boys & Girls Clubs each spring, known as the BaseBALL. The Rays big league team was also involved in the event, and Dorler is optimistic it will continue with help from Tampa Bay. And with the Rays still holding spring training in Port Charlotte, kids in the area aren’t entirely without baseball.
But Dorler knows there will be a void for the summer months — and the lost chance for kids to see up close what it looks like as someone pursues their ambitions.
“It’s priceless,” Dorler said. “It’s an opportunity to see a dream or set a goal, to say, ‘I want to be like that, I want to be successful.’
“To interact with baseball players, it helps them dream,” he added. “It helps them see something for their future.”
While Rays spring training will keep pro baseball at Charlotte County Sports Complex, other cities that lost minor league franchises are exploring ways to repurpose their stadiums.
Officials in Lancaster, California, are trying to figure out what to do with The Hangar, the 7,000-seat former home of the Lancaster JetHawks. Lancaster city manager Jason Caudle told The Los Angeles Times the city is researching options, which could include converting the park into an amphitheater.
Jackson, Tennessee, has taken a similar approach after losing the Double-A Generals. The team’s license for The Ballpark at Jackson terminated May 31, and city officials have begun soliciting proposals on ways to utilize the 6,000-seat stadium.
Mayor Scott Conger told The Associated Press he sees significant financial opportunity for the city in finding a new use for the city-owned facility.
For starters, Conger said, baseball’s biggest impact on his community never came from the Generals, but instead from the youth travel tournaments held on the 17-field sports complex nearby. Those tournaments are still bringing families to the area in droves.
The city had been paying around $1.3 million annually in stadium operations as part of their agreement with the Generals, and Conger said “the return on investment annually was not anywhere near where it needed to be.”
“We have a prime and fantastic asset for the city of Jackson right in a prime location on Interstate 40, and people want to be a part of it and utilize the stadium,” he said. “I think for us, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in charge of our own destiny with that stadium. And so we have an opportunity to maximize the stadium usage to its full potential.”
That doesn’t mean there isn’t disappointment. Josh Smith, a 45-year-old marketing manager in Jackson, said the community is missing the Generals dearly.
The Ballpark at Jackson was his family’s favorite gathering space, and he cherished the idea of sharing that with his niece and two nephews. Locals are used to driving to nearby Nashville or Chattanooga for concerts, the zoo and other forms of entertainment, but Smith said they had gotten used to having baseball in their backyard.
“It was what baseball was always supposed to be,” he said. “It’s your whole community having a blast.”
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Sad as those who spoke to the AP were about losing their minor league club, all were also understanding. Charlotte, Jackson and Lancaster all ranked in the bottom third of all minor league teams in attendance in 2019.
“I want to believe that minor league baseball will come back to Charlotte County,” said Dorler, the Boys & Girls Clubs executive. “I don’t know businesswise whether that makes sense for MLB.”
Parsley, the restaurant owner, echoed that sentiment. When the Rays hosted 14 spring training games this year, it didn’t matter that COVID-19 restrictions were still limiting capacity — the crowd still spilled out and filled the Twisted Fork, leaving Parsley to wonder what might have been.
“I still wear my Stone Crabs hat and shirt,” he said. “It’d be cool to see another team roll back in here sometime. There is support with the community.”
Warm weekends in Chicago call for rooftops, patios, and frozen cocktails. Whether it be a day drinking extravaganza with the girls or guys or a swanky date on a gorgeous rooftop, the perfect frozen boozy drink can take things to the next level. Here are 5 of our favorite spots for the best frozen cocktails in Chicago this summer.
Starting next week, the West Loop hotspot is offering diners a variety of frozen cocktails to cool off this summer. Sip on a frozen “Sour Watermelon” featuring Pink Lemonade Smirnoff, Lemon, Red Bull Watermelon Edition. Also available will be the Chi Colada featuring Captain Morgan, Pineapple, and Coconut. Lastly, diners can sit on the expansive patio and soak in the sun while enjoying the best of both worlds with the new “West Loop Vice”, featuring a mixture of both the Sour Watermelon and Chi Colada.
Located in River North, The Smith is elevating diners’ cocktail experience by offering a frozen twist on the classic French 75 and turning it into a “French 75 Slushie”. Diners can sip and enjoy this frozen beverage on the expansive Clark Street patio while enjoying light bites or The Smith’s signature Mac & Cheese.
Nestled in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Old Pueblo Cantina is “the” spot for frozen margaritas. Featuring fresh fruit, lime, and agave, diners can sip and sit on the patio while indulging in homemade Chips & Guac, sonoran cheese crisps, taco platters, chopped salads, and more.
Chicago’s largest patio, Recess, debuted the “Aperol Freeze” this summer, a frozen Aperol spritz with similarities to the classic cocktail. The mix includes Aperol, watermelon vodka and sparkling wine — giving it an interesting tingle that has similarities to the effervescence of sparkling wine even when frozen. This summer, the Recess patio is becoming even bigger and better: with more second-floor seating offering amazing views and more street art along the shipping containers.
Chef Bill Kim’s beloved fast-casual in Wicker Park offers something you don’t see everyday: frozen Kirin beer. The frozen Kirin beer trend in Japan has worked its way into the US, but locating it is still like finding a unicorn. Frozen Kirin drafts can only be found in Disney’s Epcot, New York, California, and now… urbanbelly. Beer lovers rejoice as the frosty top keeps the draft beer below it at the same temperature as it was poured, perfect for sipping on the patio.
The post Where to Find the Best Frozen Cocktails in Chicago This Summer appeared first on UrbanMatter.
Draft Dr. Phil and Shayne “The Smartest Man” Marsaw are joined by friend of the show and diehard Bears fan, comedian Tony Behinfar. They talk about his new show, “Day Drinker”, on Amazon Prime and then dive into the possibility of the Bears moving from Soldier Field to a new state-of-the-art stadium in Arlington Heights.
The post Keepin It 100: A Chicago Bears Podcast -A Day at the Races first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More
And the massive survey of artists does it well.
The nonprofit, artist-run network Tiger Strikes Asteroid has five locations across the U.S. in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Greenville, South Carolina. Their network of artists is vast, as they work to promote emerging, mid-career, and established creatives.…Read More
With new animation and old documentary footage, Apple TV+ special touches on how the Peanuts comics and TV specials affected culture.
You’d have to be a real blockhead to resist just about anything related to Charlie Brown and the whole “Peanuts” gang, and the new Apple TV+ special “Who Are You, Charlie Brown?” is a suitably warm and breezy love letter.
Part existential exercise, part traditional documentary, the 54-minute special combines new animated scenes with a brief but solid history of Charles M. Schulz and interviews with generations of fans from Al Roker to Drew Barrymore to Kevin Smith to teenage actors such as Miya Cech and Keith L. Williams.
With Lupita Nyong’o providing sparkling narration, “Who Are You, Charlie Brown?” begins with the title character agonizing over a school assignment. He has one week to write a 500-word essay defining himself. (The animated scenes are in the style of the 1960s TV specials, and voice actors such as Tyler Nathan as Charlie Brown and Isabella Leo as Lucy sound very much like the original “Peanuts” gang.)
“I have no idea who I am!” Charlie Brown laments. “How am I going to come up with 500 words? Good grief, I couldn’t be stuck with a worse subject: me.”
“You worry too much, Charlie Brown,” says Linus, ever the voice of reason and calm.
We toggle back and forth between animated scenes of Charlie Brown trying to figure out who he is, with the help of Linus and Sally and Lucy et al., (well, Lucy does her Lucy thing and reminds Charlie Brown of his history of failures), and a straightforward timeline of the life and times of Charles M. Schulz, a shy kid who later drew on his childhood experiences to create the Peanuts comic strip.
There’s archival footage of interviews with Schulz, scenes of him at work and clips from some of the great TV specials that helped catapult “Peanuts” into a global phenomenon.
Schulz’s widow Jean shares memories of her husband, who, by all accounts, was just as nice and caring as you’d hope he would be.
And cartoonists Lynn Johnston (“For Better or For Worse”) and Dan Perkins (“This Modern World”) as well as Ira Glass join a parade of superfans expressing their admiration for the stories of Charlie Brown and his endearing group of pals (including, of course, Snoopy).
Though the “Peanuts” children never aged, and we never saw the adult figures in their life, the strip evolved with the times. In 1968, a teacher wrote to Schulz and urged him to create a Black character. Shortly thereafter Schulz introduced Franklin, the first Black kid in the group.
Roker talks about seeing someone who “looked just like” me in the comics: “It was amazing how much Franklin meant to me.”
When an editor in the South objected to a strip showing Franklin in school with the white characters, Schulz didn’t dignify the letter with a response.
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Inspired by his friendship with Billie Jean King, Schulz created Peppermint Patty, a free-spirited jock, and her sidekick Marcie. (It’s pretty cool that, even 50 years ago, “Peanuts” always had the girls out on the baseball field with the boys.)
With a running time of less than an hour, “Who Are You, Charlie Brown” only skims the surface of the social and political impact the Peanuts gang had on the culture.
And Charlie Brown’s animated quest to define himself is tied up pretty quickly as well.
Still, this is a lovely tribute that will appeal to longtime fans and those who are just discovering the amazing Peanuts universe.
Hakstol will lead the first-year organization in his second head job in the NHL. He coached the Philadelphia Flyers for three-plus seasons from 2015-19.
SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken hired Dave Hakstol on Thursday as head coach of the expansion franchise that will begin play this fall.
Hakstol will lead the first-year organization in his second head job in the NHL. He coached the Philadelphia Flyers for three-plus seasons from 2015-19 and spent the past two years as a Toronto Maple Leafs assistant.
“Dave possesses great experience, a strong work ethic, a solid technical understanding of the game and the remarkable ability to communicate clearly and effectively,” general manager Ron Francis said. “I look forward to working with Dave as we strive to build a team our fans will be proud of.”
The 52-year-old Hakstol coached the Flyers to two playoff appearances but both were first-round losses and he was fired midway through his fourth seasons. He coached at the University of North Dakota for 11 years and was an off-the-board hire six years ago for then-Philadelphia general manager Ron Hextall, just as he is for Francis this time.
“I am honored to be joining this tremendous group,” Hakstol said. “When I first saw the arena, I was blown away. It is such a unique venue. I am looking forward to being a part of the group that builds a team that plays with pride, passion and selflessness for the city of Seattle.”
The expectations for the Kraken are success from the start and the team will join the Pacific Division with the Arizona Coyotes shifting to the Central.
Hakstol’s task will be significant, trying to equal the success of the the league’s last expansion franchise, however unrealistic it might be for the Kraken to match the Golden Knights. Vegas reached the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season and has made the playoffs in all four years since its inception.
The hiring fits the timeline Francis set out from the start of wanting Seattle’s coaching search settled before the end of June, well before the July 21 expansion draft and July 23 NHL draft when the Kraken will have the No. 2 overall selection.
Hakstol got the job over former Arizona coach Rick Tocchet and others who interviewed multiple times. Francis, Hakstol and Seattle assistant GM Jason Botterill were together with Canada’s team at the 2019 world championship.
While Hakstol ended up with the job, he may not have been the initial favorite.
Gerard Gallant seemed the obvious option for Seattle due to his experience leading Vegas through its record-setting first season that ended with a loss to Washington in the final. Gallant opted for the chance with the New York Rangers over potentially taking on the challenges of another first-year franchise.
The Kraken are expected to begin training camp in September with the season likely to begin in mid-October.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett warned that the death toll was likely to rise, saying the building manager told him the tower was quite full at the time of the collapse.
SURFSIDE, Fla. — A wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed with a roar in a town outside Miami early Thursday, killing at least one person and trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal. Rescuers pulled dozens of survivors from the tower during the morning and continued to look for more.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett warned that the death toll was likely to rise, saying the building manager told him the tower was quite full at the time of the collapse around 1:30 a.m., but the exact number of people present was unclear.
“The building is literally pancaked,” Burkett said. “That is heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean, to me, that we are going to be as successful as we wanted to be in finding people alive.”
Authorities did not say what may have caused the collapse. Work was being done on the building’s roof, but Burkett said he did not see how that could have been the cause.
About half of the building’s roughly 130 units were affected, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference. Rescuers pulled at least 35 people from the wreckage by mid-morning, and heavy equipment was being brought in to help stabilize the structure to give them more access, Raide Jadallah of Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue said.
Sally Heyman, of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, said that 51 people who were thought to be in the building at the time of the collapse were unaccounted for by mid-morning — but there was a possibility that some weren’t at home. The tower has a mix of seasonal and year-round residents, and while the building keeps a log of guests staying, it does not keep track of when owners are in residence, Burkett said.
Earlier, Burkett said two people were brought to the hospital, one of whom died. He added that 15 families walked out of the building on their own.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis said officials were “bracing for some bad news just given the destruction that we’re seeing.”
The collapse, which appeared to affect one leg of the L-shaped tower, tore away walls and left a number of homes in the still-standing part of the building exposed in what looked like a giant dollhouse. Television footage showed bunk beds, tables and chairs still left inside. Air conditioner units hung from some parts of the building, where wires now dangled.
Piles of rubble and debris surrounded the area, and cars up to two blocks away were coated with a light layer of dust from the debris.
Barry Cohen, 63, said he and his wife were asleep in the building when he first heard what he thought was a crack of thunder. The couple went onto their balcony, then opened the door to the building’s hallway to find “a pile of rubble and dust and smoke billowing around.”
“I couldn’t walk out past my doorway,” said Cohen, the former vice mayor of Surfside. “A gaping hole of rubble.”
He and his wife made it to the basement and found rising water there. They returned upstairs, screamed for help and were eventually brought to safety by firefighters using a cherry picker.
Cohen said he raised concerns years ago about whether nearby construction might be causing damage to the building after seeing cracked pavers on the pool deck.
At an evacuation site set up in a nearby community center, people who live in buildings neighboring the collapse gathered after being told to flee. Some wept. Some were still dressed in pajamas. Some children tried to sleep on mats spread on the floor. When a news conference about the collapse appeared on the TV, the room went silent.
Jennifer Carr was asleep in a neighboring building when she was awakened by a loud boom and her room shook. She thought it was a thunderstorm but checked the weather app on her phone and saw none. The building’s fire alarms went off, and she and her family went outside and saw the collapse.
“It was devastation,” Carr said. “People were running and screaming.”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said in a tweet that more than 80 units were “on scene with assistance from municipal fire departments.”
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Teams of firefighters walked through the rubble, picking up survivors and carrying them from the wreckage.
Nicolas Fernandez waited early Thursday for word on close family friends who lived in the collapsed section of the building.
“Since it happened, I’ve been calling them nonstop, just trying to ring their cellphones as much as we can to hep the rescue to see if they can hear the cellphones.”
The seaside condo development was built in 1981 in the southeast corner of Surfside. It had a few two-bedroom units currently on the market, with asking prices of $600,000 to $700,000 in an area with a neighborhood feel that provides a stark contrast to the glitz and bustle of nearby South Beach.
The area has a mix of new and old apartments, houses, condominiums and hotels, with restaurants and stores serving an international combination of residents and tourists. The main oceanside drag is lined with glass-sided, luxury condominium buildings, but more modest houses are on the inland side. Among the neighborhood’s residents are snowbirds, Russian immigrants and Orthodox Jews.
Patricia Avilez considered spending the night in her brother-in-law’s vacant condo on Wednesday but didn’t, only to awake to news of the collapse.
“And then I came here, and it’s gone,” she said. “Everything is disaster.”
Associated Press writers Tim Reynolds and Ian Mader in Miami; Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale; Bobby Caina Calvan in Tallahassee; and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, contributed to this report.
Joe Henricksen’s deep dive into all of last weekend’s high school basketball action.
After highlighting 10 players who really helped raise their stock on Tuesday, there is still so much to get to from a busy weekend of high school basketball.
There is no other place to start this rewind of last weekend than with Glenbard West. Let the superlatives begin.
If there is any suburban team that’s going to supplant any of the Chicago Public League powers at No. 1 when the preseason rankings come out in November, it’s Glenbard West. Yes, the Hilltoppers are that good.
Glenbard West took apart Simeon. They beat a very talented and likely top 10 team in New Trier in what was arguably the highest level game with serious shot-making that was played all weekend long. They also knocked off highly-regarded St. Rita and drilled Westinghouse.
There is Division I talent, including a legitimate high-major player in Braden Huff who has difference-making talent and size. There is the Swiss Army knife in 6-5 Cade Pierce and the high-level shooting of 6-5 Bobby Durkin. There is the athletic and physical big in 6-7 Ryan Renfro. There is the hard-nosed veteran in Paxton Warden.
You can go on and on … There is endless size, experience and, most importantly, a familiarity and unselfish aspect that is clear to see when watching this team play together.
That starts with having two unselfish stars in Huff and Pierce. They set the tone with their demeanor, leadership and unselfishness.
Huff is a basketball unicorn at the high school level, a 6-10 player capable of running an offense through, bringing the ball up the floor as a point-forward and initiating the offense, knocking down threes or being a mismatch nightmare around the basket. What he does for the Hilltoppers with his passing can’t be overlooked.
■ We won’t get into the details of specific players, but boy were there some much-talked-about players who did little to nothing this past weekend. We’re talking highly-ranked prospects with Division I offers, including some with high-major offers and interest, who really disappointed.
Some, I believe, were just highly-ranked players who simply had a rough weekend. Some are clearly over-hyped and just haven’t been seen enough –– or at all –– by college coaches. Some who just aren’t quite ready to perform yet at the level of where they are projected to be down the road. Remember, when it comes to evaluating and recruiting, it’s about projection.
But this came from one high-major assistant coach while I sat watching a prospect with him: “We seriously offered this kid?”
And this exchange from another coach as he was dissing a player to me while we were watching him play.
Me: “You know you guys offered him a year ago, right?”
Coach: “We did!?!?!?”
■ It’s worth repeating, sadly, but scholarship offers simply aren’t what they used to be –– or at least what they used to mean. And that’s a shame for the coaching staffs and programs that still really value extending an offer to a kid, because they are the ones who lose out in this college recruiting world of throwing around offers like candy. Their meaningful offers are lost in the wave of meaningless ones.
■ Speaking of offers, it’s not every day a young player receives an ACC offer and Summit League offer on the same day. That happened this week.
■ Kenwood’s JJ Taylor is the most eye-opening talent in the state. There is no debate. No one can do all the things the top-ranked junior prospect in the state can do with his size, length, athleticism and versatility. The 6-7 Taylor is a special talent.
■ Zach Cleveland is off the board as the first committed player in the Class of 2022. The Normal star committed to Liberty earlier this week just as his recruitment was gaining steam. That’s a huge win for Liberty and head coach Ritchie McKay who was front and center watching the 6-6 forward this past weekend at Normal West. Cleveland plays hard, competes, boasts very good athleticism and has a skill level that will only get better.
■ There should be no reason for this to be written again in this space, but Timothy Christian’s Ben VanderWal continues to be a vastly under-recruited player in the senior class. It’s a mystery as to why he does not have a host of Division I offers at this point. Instead he has one as of Tuesday –– from William & Mary. Still, the belief here is that will change over time.
■ It’s about time veteran Triton head coach Steve Christiansen was snapped up by a local Division I program. Christiansen, born and raised in Illinois and head coach at Triton for 17 years, was hired by Northern Illinois head coach Rashon Burno. Christiansen was making the rounds this weekend at both Riverside-Brookfield and Normal West.
Christiansen got his feet wet at NIU nearly two decades ago as the Director of Basketball Operations for then head coach Rob Judson. He went on to build Triton into a NJCAA Division II power, winning a national championship in 2018, and led the program into the Division I level of junior college basketball the past three seasons.
All the very respected Christiansen did at Triton was win. He went 443-111 in his 17 years as head coach.
■ New Trier is loaded. There is a ton of size, experience and the Trevians can shoot the basketball while posing problems with its 1-3-1 defense. This is a legitimate top 10 team and certainly the class of the north suburbs heading into next season.
Jackson Munro is a fast-improving 6-8 senior who will be watched closely this summer by college coaches, while junior Jake Fiegen is a hard-nosed guard who can absolutely fill it up as a perimeter shooter.
■ DeKalb went 18-1 this past season and has a chance to be better. Maybe the Barbs won’t match the glitzy record of a year ago, but coach Mike Reynolds team is going to be darn good. DeKalb competed and went at it with Kenwood in a matchup at the Midwest Crossroads Showcase in Normal.
The perimeter attack of Martez Jackson, Darrell Island and 6-4 Lane McVicar impressed.
■ It was hard not to be impressed with Rolling Meadows and what it could become this season. Coach Kevin Katovich’s team is probably going to miss some kid named Max Christie, but the Mustangs will be a ranked team again this upcoming season.
Cam Christie is poised to step out of his brother’s shadow and emerge as a bonafide star, and Orlando Thomas is set to be quite the running-mate on the perimeter. Veteran Foster Ogbonna, 6-4 junior who provides bulk and rebounding, returns. And keep an eye on the development of big Mark Nikolich-Wilson, a super intriguing 6-6 junior with skill and basketball smarts.
■ Rolling Meadows and Barrington ruled the Mid-Suburban League this past season, each winning their respective divisions of the MSL. Expect more of the same.
Barrington should be better than a year ago when the Broncos went 10-3 and won the MSL West.
■ One big take-away from the weekend was that the Chicago Catholic League’s profile will continue to rise. The quality depth this league is developing from top to bottom is outstanding. Whether it’s in the preseason polls or at some point during this upcoming season, it’s easy to say that as many as seven teams could be ranked during the 2021-22 season.
With DePaul Prep, Fenwick and Loyola likely coming back to the pack, the noise will surround the massive potential of St. Rita and its young, star-laden team. But the talk should start with St. Ignatius, an experienced team that will be the favorite.
■ An underrated coach who isn’t talked about enough: Lake Forest’s Phil LaScala.
■ They don’t have a Division I prospect or a big-named player but Riverside-Brookfield has the look of an easy 20-plus win team. Coach Mike Reingruber’s Bulldogs went 4-0 in their own event with seniors Joevonn McCottry, JP Hanley and Joe Gilhooley all taking turns impressing.
■ Keep an eye on Bloom in the south suburbs. Coach Dante Maddox has an emerging big man in 6-7 senior Emondrek Ford who is developing at both ends of the floor. Add a host of young guards and coach Dante Maddox should have one of the better teams in the south suburbs and a potential top 25 team.
■ DePaul Prep lost a ton from a team that went on a run this past season and won the Chipotle Clash of Champions in February, including all-stater and Loyola recruit TY Johnson. But coach Tom Kleinschmidt’s team is going to be better than I thought it would be.
Big man Dylan Arnett will be the key. A big-bodied 6-9 senior who is a Division I prospect, Arnett’s rise as a player over the next year could elevate the Rams. Keep an eye on 6-4 shooter Payton Kamin. The sophomore guard is one to watch.
■ You don’t want to play Brother Rice this year. After watching the Crusaders at Riverside-Brookfield, this is one sneaky good team. And you definitely won’t want to play them in two years. Coach Bobby Frasor has the bulk of that roster intact for the next two seasons, and it’s a good one, led by point guard Ahmad Henderson. I like this team and its potential going forward.
■ The Peoria area may be down when it comes to its high school basketball –– at least in comparison to past decades of brilliance –– but don’t include Peoria Notre Dame in that discussion. This team has put together some great seasons of late, but the potential going forward with Notre Dame is impressive.
A pair of seniors –– 6-2 guard Nelson Reynolds and 6-6 Colin Schuler –– is where you begin. But the potential of this team rides on a pair of sophomores with size in 6-7 Cooper Koch and 6-7 Lathan Sommerville. Koch, who the Hoops Report is so high on due to his size, agility and shooting ability, is already a bonafide high-major prospect at this young age.
■ Moline’s Brock Harding can play for my team any day. With his feel for the position, the heady 5-11 junior point guard reminds me a little of former St. Charles East point guard Cole Gentry, who went on to have a very nice career at Wright State. Harding, though, with his size and shooting range, has more scoring potential than Gentry had at the same age.
■ The summer shootouts are generally the first time you get a look at a few of the top incoming freshmen. Those freshmen who really opened eyes over the course of the weekend were Jeremiah Fears of Joliet West and Young’s Antonio Munoz. St. Rita’s Melvin Bell is another talent.
■ After getting another look at him this past weekend, throw Mascoutah’s Justin King in the group of players who should probably be getting a little more love than he’s received. I really like the 6-4 combo guard’s engagement and how he carries himself as a player on the floor. Those attributes don’t always stand out and when they do are sometimes ignored. King can play somewhere at the low-major Division I level.
■ Larkin should be much improved, because that senior backcourt of Damari Wheeler-Thomas and Fernando Perez will be the best in the Upstate Eight Conference.
■ Toby Onyekonwu of Plainfield East is one trigger-happy scoring guard, but he’s a sniper from the perimeter with big-time scoring potential. He’s a big-time weapon offensively with shake and shooting.
■ You have to continue to love how Glenbrook South’s Nick Martinelli just always finds a way. Don’t overlook the talent he brings to the floor, but so much of the uncanny craftiness he plays with does translate to the next level.
■ Gary DeCesare returns to the Chicago area as coach at De La Salle and has a group that will be a threat in the Chicago Catholic League. The Meteors were without scoring guard DaJuan Bates who was out with an injury, but they have a pair of bigs in Marcellius Cohen and Jamil Wilson and an unsung guard in Jalen Brown who is capable of knocking down shots.
■ Mount Carmel’s DeAndre Craig is a stud. The junior point guard with difficult shot-making ability is yet another underclass weapon in the Chicago Catholic League. He’s a player in the Class of 2023 who will garner more Division I interest soon.
■ There is a whole new look at Fenwick. And all things considered, it doesn’t look too bad.
First, life begins after three years of dominance from star Bryce Hopkins who has moved on to Kentucky.
Second, Tony Young has taken over the program as head coach, replacing respected Staunton Peck. That should be very good hand-off.
Third, a pair of transfers –– Kyle Thomas, a much-talked-about 6-9 senior big man from St. Joseph, and junior guard Hunter Duncan from La Lumiere –– are big additions.
The arrival of Thomas and Duncan, along with the senior trio of Denium Juette, Gabe Madej and David Gieser, will keep the Friars in the mix in the Chicago Catholic League.
■ Following his strong weekend showing, Batavia’s 6-7 Ethan Ivan has emerged as one of the must-have small college prospects on the market. He’s a versatile 4-man who will garner more Division II looks.
■ Downers Grove South’s appearance at Riverside-Brookfield was the debut of head coach Zach Miller. DGS has turned the program over to the young coach who has spent time as an assistant at both West Aurora and Downers South. Miller was the star point guard of the Glenbard East team, led by Johnny Hill, that reached Peoria in 2011 and finished fourth in the state.
■ Maybe a team will emerge or maybe there is a team I simply don’t know about around the state, but it’s hard to imagine Yorkville Christian not being a big favorite to win a Class 1A championship next March.
Jaden Schutt, one of the top players in the state, didn’t play this past weekend as he was on an official visit to Michigan State. Talented Brayden Long was also out with an injury. But coach Aaron Sovern’s team still impressed as it has weapons beyond Schutt and Sovern.
Slick guard KJ Vasser is a hidden player in the senior class and sophomore Jehvion Starwood is another talent in the backcourt.
■ West Aurora finished 1-15 last season. But I do know this after watching the Blackhawks this past weekend: West Aurora should be much-improved and win a lot more than one game next year with the addition of St. Rita sophomore transfer Josh Pickett and a healthy 6-7 Ty Rogers.
■ A big thanks goes out to both Riverside-Brookfield’s Mike Reingruber and Normal West’s Ed Hafermann.
Reingruber and his staff at Riverside-Brookfield once again ran a stellar, well-organized event that everyone has come to expect based on past history. It’s still just summer basketball, but the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout has become a staple on the basketball calendar.
With certain Covid restrictions up in the air when the live events were being discussed and organized, there was a dire need for a second event. Hafermann and Normal West stepped up and provided a platform for so many other players, particularly those in the southern part of the state and in central Illinois.
In a very short amount of time and without any past experience of running a live event to base it on, Hafermann did a great job of making the most out of the situation.
Based on several different factors, the IBCA should look at keeping a live event in Normal going forward on one of the two weekends.
