“Pitchers and catchers report to spring training” are seven therapeutic words that freezing baseball fans yearn to hear and serve as a welcome reminder that spring, and baseball, are near.

But many White Sox fans are turning a cold ear as the Sox approach the first day of camp Wednesday. The disappointment of 2022, a draining campaign helmed by 77-year-old Tony La Russa until he left the team for medical reasons Aug. 30, was followed by a rather unfulfilling offseason that included signings of left fielder Andrew Benintendi and right-hander Mike Clevinger but not much else. Jose Abreu, one of the franchise’s most productive hitters and a fan and clubhouse favorite, was allowed to leave in free agency.

While the Cubs held their fan convention, the Sox did not, giving no specific reason. The more vocal fans grumbled more.

It has been a harsh winter.

On Jan. 9, closer Liam Hendriks announced he has cancer, adding a layer of real-life gloom. And on Jan. 24, it became known that Clevinger is under investigation by Major League Baseball for allegations of domestic abuse of his 10-month-old child and the child’s mother. The former brought about sadness and emotion. The latter sadness and rage.

On paper, the Sox will enter 2023 as a contender in the American League Central, which they won in 2021 for their first division title since 2008. They have stars such as Tim Anderson and Dylan Cease, past All-Stars Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Yasmani Grandal and Benintendi, and potential stars in Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada, who should arrive at camp with chips on their shoulders after last season’s bust. They also have a new manager in Pedro Grifol and a revamped coaching staff.

But the usual anticipatory buzz around spring doesn’t seem to exist, thanks in large part to the Clevinger news, even though the Sox didn’t know about the investigation when they signed him.

At the winter meetings in San Diego in December, Sox general manager Rick Hahn said Sox fans’ faith in the organization would have to be earned after a .500 season in the thick of a contention window. Flash back to when Hahn earned Chicago Person of the Year accolades in 2017 and Sporting News Executive of the Year in 2020 as the Sox’ front-office face of the rebuild that rejuvenated a fan base going all-in on the plan. It all seemed to be working splendidly in the abbreviated 2020 season when the Sox snared a wild-card berth for their first postseason appearance since 2008.

They lost the best-of-three series and fired manager Rick Renteria before chairman Jerry Reinsdorf brought La Russa out of retirement believing he would do better, despite knowing of La Russa’s second DUI. La Russa won in 2021 then oversaw a retreat to 81-81 in 2022, a season marked by questionable decisions, odd lineups and leadership issues that did nothing to polish La Russa’s Hall of Fame legacy.

The team, ravaged by injuries and sapped by a lackluster look on the field and in the dugout, fell out of favor with fans, who chanted “Fire Tony” and hoisted “Sell the team” signs.

Grifol, 52, was hired Nov. 3 as the organization’s 42nd manager, and on his shoulders falls the front office’s hope for a turnaround. Despite no managerial experience, Grifol’s arrival was largely received as a breath of fresh air signaling a needed restart with new coaches Charlie Montoyo, Jose Castro, Chris Johnson, Eddie Rodriguez and Mike Tosar.

Motivated by last season’s failures, players approached offseason workouts and preparation bent on a turnaround. But the front office appears to be leaning on rookies to man second base and right field and has done little besides sign Benintendi to a franchise-record $75 million contract and Clevinger to a one-year, $12 million deal. With Clevinger, who denied the allegations, still under investigation, it’s not known whether he will be at camp, and his status is unclear. League policy prevents the Sox from disciplining Clevinger now.

Day 1 for pitchers and catchers is Wednesday. The first full-squad workout is Feb. 20.

In Arizona, the sun will be shining brightly. The Sox desperately need the warmth.

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Chris Mueller deserved a breather.

Before the Fire’s 2022 season ended, the Schaumburg native had played nonstop since the beginning of the 2020 season. He suited up for Orlando City that year, participated in a winter U.S. national-team camp, returned to Orlando for the 2021 season, switched to Scottish club Hibernian and its fall-to-spring schedule in early 2022, then moved back to MLS and the Fire last May.

During that time, Mueller’s performance rose and fell. His strong 2020 with Orlando and an impressive showing with the U.S. men’s national team made him a prospect for more international duty. But Mueller’s form dipped during the 2021 MLS season, and his stay in Scotland was short and frustrating. He then started out strong with the Fire before eventually fading as his fatigue became obvious.

”Getting some time off was much-needed,” Mueller said. ”I feel really good. Honestly, I feel refreshed and feel like I got that pep back in my step that I kind of started to lose a little bit of toward the end of the season last year.”

That grind is a fact of life for players who flip between Europe and MLS. Like Mueller, Xherdan Shaqiri didn’t have much of a break before coming to the Fire after a stint with French club Lyon.

Mueller and Shaqiri are professionals, but that doesn’t make it any easier to play without a bit of a rest.

”It’s not ideal, obviously,” Mueller said. ”You know you want to give your body time to recover and recuperate. But when it’s needed, I feel like it’s part of our job to step up to the plate and do our best to deliver results.”

Mueller’s body needed to recuperate. So, perhaps, did his spirit.

Not only was Mueller physically tired from soccer, but he also indicated he was tired of the sport mentally. He didn’t want to play the game and didn’t want to watch it, either. To unplug, he and his wife went to Europe for three weeks, allowing him to recalibrate.

”I went through a bit of a tough spell mentally, just in terms of the game and coming back from Europe and some of the personal battles I faced with that,” Mueller said. ”So I really felt like I needed some time away from the game. I think it reinvented a little bit of hunger in me and kind of gave me back that drive that has always driven me.”

The Fire hope Mueller’s break serves him and the team well.

When he’s right, Mueller is an explosive and skilled attacker who causes problems for opponents. He’s strong on the ball and can challenge defenses one-on-one, ingredients the Fire will need after a 2022 season in which they scored only 39 goals.

”He didn’t have a full season with us, and we’ve seen what he can do,” coach Ezra Hendrickson said. ”I think he’s come back really, really fit. He’s got a little break because he went straight from Scotland to playing with us. I think he’s shown well in training.”

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Welcome to college basketball’s final four!

The number of weeks until Selection Sunday, that is.

This is your cue to get up to speed on the college season if you aren’t already.

Football ends Sunday, so no more of that. Watching the Bulls, who stood pat at the NBA trade deadline, is as enjoyable as pruning one’s nose hairs with a bolt cutter. If you ripped out a tooth every time the Blackhawks scored a goal, you still would be ordering steak into April.

But college basketball is all ramped up and ready to entertain. A lot of sports fans in a pro town such as this one treat college sports fans like 1950s TV dads treat their offspring, which is to say they roundly ignore them until further doing so would be an unconscionable dereliction of duty. That’s you right now — or some of you, anyway — in regard to college hoops. You’ve been only vaguely aware of the season until now, but it’s time to put down the dang newspaper and engage with what’s right in front of you.

That was a terrible way to put it. Please keep reading. Here are 10 items to catch you up:

1. Good — maybe not great — at the top: Purdue has the best player in the land in 7-4 center Zach Edey, but the rest of the Boilermakers are standard-issue Big Ten. Houston is reminiscent of Baylor’s tough-as-nails national-title team of two seasons ago, but a slightly lesser version. Alabama is a football school. Arizona’s rebuilt squad probably isn’t quite as strong as its 2022 version, which crapped out in the Sweet 16.

Those are the top four squads in the country this week. None of them should be viewed as the team to beat because there really isn’t one.

2. A half-dozen of the others: Regardless of where they’re ranked at this point, UCLA, Kansas, Baylor, UConn, Creighton and even far-from-its-best-self Gonzaga are teams that could step on the gas and eventually pass everybody.

3. Blue-hoo bloods: North Carolina brought back nearly everyone from a national-runner-up squad and has been a spectacular failure, lucky to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Kentucky is a dusty shell of its former self, too. Villanova is below .500 after making 16 of the last 17 tournaments under Jay Wright, who’s now retired. Duke is a No. 7 seed in ESPN’s latest bracket, worse off than it has entered a Big Dance since 1996. And Gonzaga is looking up at Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference, in real danger of not winning it for only the second time in the last 22 seasons.

4. The same-old-big thing: A bunch of the best interior stars from last season came back to school rather than pursue NBA opportunities, and the results have been underwhelming. Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot haven’t stopped their teams from getting worse. Hunter Dickinson hasn’t been able to lift Michigan out of the muck. Led by Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana has gotten better but not dramatically so.

5. Edey’s ceiling:His trajectory as a college player has been astonishing, whether the NBA values him as a major prospect or not. But can Edey carry a team like Danny Manning carried Kansas in 1988, like Glen Rice carried Michigan in 1989, like Carmelo Anthony carried Syracuse in 2023, like Kemba Walker carried UConn in 2011? In other words, not stopping until confetti is dropping? It will be fascinating to find out.

6. What a beast: Even with Villanova down, the Big East is surging. Even with forward Zach Freemantle on the shelf for at least the rest of the month, Xavier is legit. So is Marquette. So is Providence. Creighton is playing better than any of them, and UConn was, as recently as January, getting No. 1 votes. And don’t get us started on DePaul. . . . No, really, don’t.

7. But not the best:The Big East arguably has surpassed the SEC as the second-finest conference this season, but the Big 12 is still No. 1 by a mile. It has the last two national champs — Baylor and Texas — in contention and No. 5-ranked Texas leading an absurdly challenging race. The Longhorns are being coached on an interim basis by Rodney Terry, who stepped up when Chris Beard was fired amid felony domestic-violence charges.

8. Little engines that can: Four smaller-school teams that nobody with any sense will want a piece of down the line are Florida International, Charleston, Oral Roberts and Kent State. OK, you’ve been warned.

9. The Houston angle: LSU won the college football title in New Orleans a few years back. Then the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in Tampa a year later, and the Rams won it in Southern California a year after that. Houston — with the Final Four in its city — could be a successor, of sorts, to those teams. For that matter, so could Texas, in a bit of a stretch (it’s a three-hour drive away). And what a story it would be.

10. A tantalizing two-fer: Yes, Illinois and Northwestern are headed for the NCAAs. If they don’t blow it. Which either or both could. But you won’t let that happen on your watch, will you? You’re too locked in now for that.

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Since the tail end of the regular season, much of the talk around the Chicago Bears has been regarding what they will end up doing with the number one overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

General manager Ryan Poles has a lot of power at the moment, with that pick ultimately being able to turn into Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, whom many believe will be the number one selection.

But, the Bears already have a quarterback in Justin Fields.

Fields went on The Rich Eisen Show recently and was asked about that coveted pick which the Bears own. His response should not surprise anybody, though, as he kept it cool, calm and classy as usual.

“How I look at it is just controlling the controllables. No matter what happens with me, I can control what I can control, and that’s how I approach the game. That’s how I train for the game and how I carry myself within the game,” he said.

Justin Fields has said all of the right things when it comes to the Chicago Bears’ no. 1 overall draft pick

“It’s jut those three aspects to where I kind of just have to look myself in the mirror and kind of say, ‘What can I control?’ It is what it is and just move on and be the best quarterback I can be. Now is the time to where I’ve been trying to grow personally, spiritually, as a quarterback, so I’ve grown a lot these past few weeks of the offseason.”

The maturity Fields has shown since Day 1 is not a shock. That’s who he’s been for years now. And, unfortunately, he landed in a spot like Chicago where the quarterback position has historically been a joke. It’s one of the most single-ridiculed positions in all of sports, all things considered.

For a team that has never had a 4,000-yard passer or a quarterback throw for 30 touchdowns, Fields had to know he’d be under scrutiny from the beginning.

It didn’t help that his front office chose to wait a year before truly building around him, too. So, if he’s given the chance to be the starting quarterback in 2023 (which he should), I expect Fields to take a leap, so long as Poles does his best to build around him this offseason.

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The Chicago Bulls stood back at the NBA trade deadline this year and didn’t make a move, but in a weird way, things might have improved for them in the process.

The Nets blew it up, sending Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns and Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks. That should remove one team in front of the Bulls, at the moment, who sit at the number nine seed in the East.

Although, this roster doesn’t exactly scream “playoff contender,” right now. Chicago could still sneak in, but is that a real reason to celebrate?

One player that might end up helping Chicago to the postseason? Russell Westbrook, who was recently acquired by the Utah Jazz in a 3-team deal and request a buyout. If Westbrook were to request a buyout, believe it or not, the Bulls are one of two frontrunners to land him. It’s between Chicago and the Miami Heat, as of right now.

What good would signing Russell Westbrook do the Chicago Bulls at this point?

For those who are stat heads, Westbrook is currently averaging 15.9 points, 7.5 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game in roughly 28 minutes played.

He’s now best suited off the bench, but plays a good chunk of time nonetheless. He’s a fairly efficient player, overall, still. Although he isn’t as prolific a scorer as he once was, Westbrook can still run an offense and get his teammates involved.

The Bulls are missing a true facilitator on this team, and have been since Lonzo Ball went down. At the very least, Westbrook could fill in the gaps in that realm.

But, here’s another stat for you: on the season, Westbrook has just 0.5 win shares, according to Basketball Reference. That’s not a whole lot. It’s not all that impressive, and is by far the lowest number of his career.

Should the Bulls sign Westbrook, it feels like a move that would get them just a little closer to being a solidified playoff team. But, in the end, it’s not a move that would get this roster out of the first round.

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Cubs players already have begun to descend upon Mesa, Arizona, and pitchers and catchers are set for their first official spring-training workout Wednesday. The first full-squad workout is the following week.

The Cubs still could add supplemental pieces to their roster, but most of the offseason work is done.

“This team is going to be really competitive,” left fielder Ian Happ said during the Cubs Convention last month. “Everybody says that at this time of year, but you can see a way that we can win a lot of baseball games.

“This team can pitch it. There’s a lot of defense there. And I think there’s underrated bats — I really do.”

Happ’s glowing review won’t truly be tested until the regular season, but this spring will provide the first glimpses of a new-look Cubs squad. Between the abundance of players hoping to make an impression and MLB’s partnership with the World Baseball Classic, there’s plenty of promise for plenty of players.

The Cubs extended 32 big-league camp invitations to non-roster players, including standout prospects Matt Mervis and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Familiar faces such as David Bote, Mark Leiter Jr. and Manuel Rodriguez also return as non-roster invitees.

Approaching spring training, the Cubs aren’t the favorite in the National League Central — the Cardinals still hold that distinction. But four months after finishing the 2022 season with a 74-88 record, they at least look like a team that could challenge for a playoff spot.

Most improved: Defense

The Cubs’ most notable acquisitions are geared toward run prevention, especially strengthening the defense up the middle.

Shortstop Dansby Swanson, the biggest signing (seven years, $177 million), won a Gold Glove last year. With the addition of Swanson, Nico Hoerner moves from shortstop to second base after proving himself at both positions.

The Cubs added former MVP Cody Bellinger — who was tied for third among NL center fielders in outs above average (six) — on a pillow contract. They also fortified the rotation with right-hander Jameson Taillon.

For good measure, they added veteran catcher Tucker Barnhart to pair with fellow defense-first catcher Yan Gomes.

“It’s not the coolest, most highlight-reel thing to see every day, but pitching and defense wins games,” Barnhart said in his introductory news conference, adding that the Cubs’ emphasis on those aspects of the game attracted him in free agency.

Work in progress: Bullpen

The Cubs have gone through a familiar process this winter, signing relievers mostly to short-term contracts or minor-league deals with spring-training invites, then turning them over to the pitching infrastructure with the faith that several of them will perform above projections. During the rebuild, the Cubs would then trade those players around midseason, helping to strengthen their farm system.

Recent years have provided proof that the formula works. But that doesn’t mean they want to keep repeating it.

The Cubs’ most notable bullpen additions this offseason have been right-handers Brad Boxberger and Michael Fulmer (whose deal is pending a physical). They help fill holes left from the trade deadline last year. On the 40-man roster, homegrown pitcher Brandon Hughes is the only left-handed reliever. If the Cubs play well enough in the first half of the season, they could be buyers come late July.

“My hope is that over the next two or three years, those guys are all coming out of our [farm] system,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said last month when asked about the back end of the bullpen. “That’s the real goal, to provide great stuff in the bullpen that’s also coming, and young guys with options that are a little less expensive.”

Uncertain: Offense

New hitting coach Dustin Kelly won’t be easing in, with the Cubs hoping to climb into contention in his first year on the job.

This offseason, they signed a trio of offensive bounce-back candidates: Bellinger, Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer. Their responses to a change of scenery could swing the Cubs’ potential either way — proving or disproving Happ’s claim of the team’s “underrated bats.”

Swanson is expected to provide a boost. Development from Seiya Suzuki and Chris-topher Morel, each entering his second MLB season, also could make a difference. But the Cubs also lost one of their best hitters, Willson Contreras. There’s no guarantee of significant year-over-year improvement at the plate. But it’s not out of the question.

“It’s an exciting team, but experience was lacking a bit,” Mancini said of last season. “And especially with the signings we made this offseason and experience that was added, when you have a lot of exciting young talent matched with some of the right veteran guys, that can be a great mix.”

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If forward Tyler Johnson had been fully healthy last season, he would have played his 50th game as a member of the Blackhawks on Feb. 17, 2022.

Instead, Johnson made his 50th appearance for the Hawks on Friday against the Coyotes — the team’s 50th game of his second season in Chicago.

That shows how hampered by injuries Johnson, 32, has been since coming to the Hawks. Physically, things have not gone well. He hasn’t played more than eight consecutive games at any point during these two seasons.

Mentally, however, things have gone relatively well. Johnson has displayed an impressive ability to fend off discouragement in spite of his unfortunate injury luck.

”I always try to be a positive person,” Johnson said. ”I don’t think being negative helps at all, regardless of what’s going on individually or as a team.”

Added Hawks coach Luke Richardson: ”He just makes us a better team, and . . . he just makes players better around him. Those [types of] hockey players are hard to find.”

One reason for Johnson’s optimism stems from the fact that the biggest chunk of games he missed — 46, from Oct. 30 to Feb. 27 of last season — came after he decided to have artificial disc-replacement surgery. That operation turned out to be extremely effective, eliminating neck pain Johnson had been dealing with for years.

Even later last season, however, Johnson missed seven games (March 15-26) with something initially deemed a concussion — although he recently clarified that was ”not really” what it was — then three games (April 10-14) as a healthy scratch.

This season, he missed 20 games (Oct. 27-Dec. 9) with a sprained left ankle, came back for two, then missed two more (Dec. 16-18) after aggravating it. After that, he played six games, missed one (Jan. 3) because of illness, played eight more, then suffered a ”different but related” ankle injury that cost him three games (Jan. 24-28).

Johnson caught a break with the timing of the Hawks’ bye week, which enabled him to return Tuesday against the Ducks and log 19 minutes, 44 seconds of ice time — the second-highest of his Hawks tenure to date.

”Of all the bad luck, I guess we got a little good luck there,” he said. ”There’s nothing I’m worried about or, in the future, that I have to worry about.

”The ankle is more of a nuisance than anything. It can be really good or it can be really bad, but hopefully now we’re over that hurdle. It feels good. I just have to keep on going.”

Still, maintaining a rhythm through his absences has proved difficult.

”It’s just that hockey touch of being in the right spot, having your timing down and making the right plays [that gets lost],” Johnson said. ”You’re working out, so your body’s there. And in your mind, you’re always thinking about the game. But it’s just about that timing of everything. You don’t quite get that at practice because it’s not quite up to full speed.”

That makes his respectable productivity this season all the more impressive. With 15 points in 24 games, he leads all regular Hawks with a rate of 2.45 points per 60 minutes. (Max Domi ranks second at 2.30.)

And early in the third period Tuesday, Johnson was covering for pinching defenseman Seth Jones when the puck was cleared delicately down the ice, putting him in a race with Ducks forward Frank Vatrano back into the Hawks’ defensive zone.

Richardson watched Johnson ”put the burners on,” get to the puck first and calmly pass it to Jones, who hit Patrick Kane in stride to start another attack.

”To me, that showed he’s healthy again and he’s feeling good,” Richardson said.

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University of Arizona assistant baseball coach Trip Couch has a simple solution whenever a select group of players complains.

Couch simply shows them the chilly temperature in Chicago on a phone app before walking outside of his Hi Corbett Field office and placing a telephone call while wearing his Wildcats shorts.

“Casey Hintz gets tired of me doing that,” Couch quipped.

Hintz and fellow freshman pitcher Tony Pluta from St. Viator High School are two of five Chicago-area players who migrated to Tucson to play for an Arizona team that should make its third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.

And with Couch, in his second year as the Wildcats’ -national recruiting coordinator, more area players will be under consideration.

“I have a lot of connections in the Midwest, and I feel like the Midwest is a fertile recruiting ground,” said Couch, whose 10 years as a scout for the Diamondbacks are sandwiched by 25 years of coaching experience at Louisiana-Lafayette, Houston, Texas, South Carolina and Arizona.

Among the latest signings is Mahomet-Seymour High School pitcher Blake Wolters, who struck out 115 in 58 2/3 innings as a junior last spring.

But more essential is that head coach Chip Hale, associate head coach Dave Lawn and Couch have identified recruits who displayed the toughness of playing through inclement weather and possess plenty of upside that has yet to crystallize because of late and shortened high school seasons.

The temptation to pursue a pro career wasn’t enough to sway former Young High School star outfielder Brendan Summerhill, who believes he’ll prosper for three years -under Hale and Couch, who have pro experience.

“They made it clear to me this is a place I needed to be because of the support and runway I get, how much they let you make mistakes, make you grow up and have time to mature,” said Summerhill, whose rising stock last spring worried the Wildcats’ staff before he went undrafted.

“In pro ball, it’s one of those things that you’re on your own, and you’re on your own fast.”

Sophomore left-hander Eric Orloff signed with Arizona well before head coach Jay Johnson departed to LSU after the 2021 season. But any concerns about his role were quelled gradually. Orloff made the most appearances (23) of any Wildcat freshman pitcher and appeared twice in the NCAA Coral Gables Regional.

“Our arms are fresher,” said Orloff, a former Glenbrook North standout. “In the winter, you’re forced to shut down for two months or throwing bullpens inside but can’t play long toss. You throw into a net, but it isn’t the same. It gives our arms more rest than in the West Coast, where you’re playing year-round.”

Arizona’s interest in Orloff didn’t spike until he threw at a Prep Baseball Report Pro Case, but he committed after a telephone chat and Zoom call during a four-day span.

Orloff was roughed up in his two NCAA tournament appearances, but he earned the chance to pitch in more key situations after striking out four and not allowing an earned run in 3 1/3 innings at Grand Canyon for his first win March 29.

Orloff admitted he wasn’t expecting to pitch much because of the competition. But after throwing 39 1/3 innings, “it makes me happy and want to work harder to get more work, especially with how competitive it is,” he said.

Of the five Chicago-area players, perhaps no one is more eager to make his Wildcats debut than redshirt freshman left-hander Jackson Kent from Lake Park High School.

Originally, Kent committed to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, only to decommit on the advice of a friend. But three weeks passed until Couch invited him and his father to visit the Tucson campus.

The trip went smoothly, and Kent committed to the Wildcats a week later.

But Kent redshirted last spring and was relegated to throwing bullpens and participating in practices but not traveling with the team. He credited the coaching staff with maintaining his sanity and keeping him on track for the 2023 season.

“We have that connection, that Midwest blood,” Kent said. “It’s a good thing to have when everyone is getting recruited from California and Arizona. It’s great to see we’re -together and getting along well.”

Couch emphasizes, based on his years as an amateur scout, that it’s ominous for high school kids who receive less than a $1 million signing bonus to reach the majors.

“I told these kids, ‘Most of you guys need to go to college, just to learn life and understand taking care of your body, being on time, having a routine, having all the things you need to give you a chance to play in the big leagues,’ ” Couch said.

“That’s why the number of major-leaguers that come from colleges is exponentially higher than the high school kids, because they do have a foundation.”

And there’s some freedom. Hintz will pitch this spring for the Wildcats because of need, but he will play the infield in the Prospect League this summer before determining where he’ll stay.

Meanwhile, Summerhill’s left-handed bat fits well in a predominantly right-handed lineup, provided he can find a spot in a talented outfield that includes potential second-round pick Chase Davis.

Arizona opens the 2023 season Friday against No. 2 Tennessee and top college pitcher Chase Dollander at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona. But Summerhill reinforced his desire to improve over the next three seasons against top competition and pave the way for more Chicago high school kids to pursue their dream of playing on a larger stage.

“It would mean a lot,” said Summerhill, who was recruited by Tennessee shortly after de-committing from Kentucky in the summer of 2021 before signing with Arizona. “When you think about Chicago baseball, you think about mostly southwest suburbs of Chicago. There’s good baseball down there, but you never hear about the city of Chicago.

“I think there are a lot of really talented athletes in the city of Chicago who play baseball, like at Lane Tech, Kenwood, Whitey Young, Morgan Park, Simeon. It would show that kids don’t go to city schools just to play basketball or football.”

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PHOENIX — Andy Reid’s wife, Tammy, grew up in Arizona. The Chiefs coach has been coming to the Phoenix area for more than half his life to visit her family.

“I remember driving from Los Angeles, and I-10 stopped right by where the stadium is,” Reid said this week. “You’d get off and drive through a bunch of fields there to get to Glendale. It’s grown and grown and grown.”

Built 16 years ago for $455 million, State Farm Stadium is the spaceship-shaped symbol of the Valley’s suburban sprawl. An economic ecosystem has developed around it — an arena and a nearby mall with bars and restaurants that fans flock to on game day.

It sounds a lot like what the Bears want to build in Arlington Heights, doesn’t it?

The Bears are in escrow on the 326-acre former Arlington International Racecourse property and hope to close in the next few months. The complex, if built, is expected to feature a domed stadium with hotels, restaurants and shopping. Outgoing Bears president/CEO Ted Phillips said the team wants a “wonderfully 365-day-a-year entertainment district.”

Phillips’ replacement, former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren, has a soft spot for games in the Phoenix area. He grew up there and gets to see his family when his teams play at State Farm Stadium. But although he’s a self-professed stadium nerd, he didn’t exactly sing the stadium’s praises last month.

“It’s held up,” he said. “But the issue is the location, that it’s kind of . . . it’s far out.”

Far out? The site of Sunday’s Super Bowl is about 13 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix. Arlington Heights is about 30 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.

The distance is less of an issue than it was when State Farm Stadium was built, said Kevin Phelps, Glendale’s city manager. Some projections show that two out of three newcomers to the Phoenix area will live in the West Valley.

“If [the Bears] develop the 326 acres as they envision and they create a sense of place, I think they can be very successful,” Phelps said. “People won’t even think about the time it takes to drive there.”

That’s what the Bears hope — although fans in the city are already arguing otherwise.

If they construct their dome in Arlington Heights, the Bears hope to land a Super Bowl. And they’d likely get one, too, as a make-good by the NFL for building a stadium, the way Minnesota and the New York area have received Super Bowls in the last decade. But like those other cold-weather cities, Arlington Heights likely would be left out of the NFL’s permanent rotation. The Super Bowl will be held in Las Vegas next year and New Orleans in 2025.

The Bears also could host NCAA basketball Final Fours on a regular basis. Glendale will hold its second next year.

The last time Glendale hosted a Super Bowl, it had about 800 hotel rooms near the stadium. By next year, that number will be 3,000. The city has found that most people spend money on dinner and shopping within two miles of their hotel. But a new development has to deliver.

“You have to have a ‘there’ there,” Phelps said. “I don’t care how good your advertising is. If we told everyone to come to Glendale and they got here and there was an ice cream shop and a Denny’s and that’s all there is, you’d never get them back again.”

The Bears are hoping to build more than a Denny’s. They don’t plan to do what the Cardinals are most known for, though. They want a fixed-roof dome, not a retractable one. The Cardinals grow grass outside State Farm Stadium and slide it into place for games. The Bears likely would opt for artificial turf, Phillips said, and have talked to the NFL about advancements in the product.

If the Bears build their new home, it will undoubtedly look different than the Glendale spaceship. The surrounding development, on the other hand, could look awfully familiar.

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The Blackhawks’ 4-3 overtime win Friday over the Coyotes made Jaxson Stauber the first goalie in franchise history to start his career 3-0-0.

“You just take it one day at a time,” Stauber said. “And, for me, one period at a time each game I play in. We didn’t get off to a great start tonight, but guys battled and played really well the last two periods.”

After the Hawks rallied from down 2-0 early to take a late 3-2 lead, Stauber allowed a rather soft tying goal with 2:27 left.

He recovered in overtime, however, making the second of his two huge pad stops in his United Center debut. He finished with 24 saves total, dealing the Coyotes a remarkable 17th consecutive road loss.

“He’s pretty composed back there,” Caleb Jones said. “He plays the puck well for a young guy. He’s not afraid of the moment. It doesn’t look like he’s getting too nervous.”

Jones enjoyed a bit of a redemption arc of his own.

The Hawks were pinning in the Coyotes and holding all the momentum in the second period when Jones got “antsy,” in coach Luke Richardson’s words, and shot a puck prematurely. It was blocked the other direction and led to Jones committing a momentum-killing penalty, his second of the game.

But he also made up for it in overtime, tracking down a loose puck after Andreas Athanasiou was dropped on a breakaway and beating Coyotes goalie Connor Ingram through the five-hole.

“After that first period, we came in and regrouped and started working and moving,” said Athanasiou, who tied career highs with three points and eight shots on goal. “When we start doing that, a lot of good things happen. We had a lot of shifts where we got rolling in the ‘O’-zone, and that’s a fun way to play.”

Katchouk clicks

Boris Katchouk has struggled to stay in the Hawks’ lineup this season, but he discovered a formula Friday that could lead to more success moving forward.

The 24-year-old forward’s physicality is his defining attribute, and using it responsibly has been a challenge — he has committed the most penalties per 60 minutes on the Hawks this season. On Friday, however, he used it in a smart way, forcing turnovers and pushing Coyotes across the blue line.

He also got involved offensively. He earned an assist when he drew a delayed penalty on a first-period breakaway, and Seth Jones scored seconds later. He drove the net on a couple of other attacking situations, too.

With six points in 26 appearances this season, Katchouk has a long way to go to prove he has found a sustainable rhythm. But he at least might have something to build on.

Nazar debuts

Hawks prospect Frank Nazar made his college debut in Michigan’s 4-2 victory Friday against Michigan State. He was eased back into action, centering their third line.

Nazar, the 13th overall pick in the 2022 draft, had missed the entire season up to this point while recovering from hip surgery, but his return came a little earlier than expected.

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