Notes and quotes in the transition from Winter sports to Spring sports in high school and college athletics offer a few nuggets and important thoughts. For example:
• In Division I men’s college basketball, Loyola will make its second appearance in the Final Four since the tournament started and played its first season in 1939 at Northwestern University in Evanston. The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) was the big tournament in the early years. Other Illinois schools to compete in the Final Four in Division I: Illinois, five times; DePaul and Bradley, two each, for 11 times for all Illiniois schools. North Carolina leads with 20 appearances, Kentucky and UCLA, 17 each, Duke, 16; and Kansas, 15. Michigan, with six, and Villanova, five, are the other teams in the Final Four.
The two Kansas universities have former Illinois head coaches as head coaches, Bill Self at Kansas, and Bruce Weber at Kansas State. In addition to the coaches, our interest includes Cameron Krutwig Loyola freshman from Jacobs High School, and Brad Korn, assistant coach with Kansas State, who was a star at Plano High School in a trip to the State tournament. Jalen Brunson of Villanova and a top player in the Nation, is from Stevenson High School in Lake County.
Porter Moser was a top notch player for Benet Academy more than 30 years ago. He is in his seventh season as the head coach at Loyola, his third head coaching position in college basketball which includes Little Rock Arkansas and Illinois State University. Loyola is only the fourth 11th seeded team to qualify for the Final Four, which includes LSU (Louisiana State), VCU (Virginia Commonwealth), and George Mason. No 11th seeded team has won a Final Four game. Loyola players have presented such a positive attitude being the first team to win a Final Four game is a likely target of the players who have played winning defense, played team ball, offered cohesiveness, and have been a refreshing infusion for the somewhat tarnished image of college basketball.
• Larkin High School in Elgin completed its school’s first berth in the boys high school basketball final four in its fourth trip to the super-sectional. Larkin captured fourth place. “It is just settling in what we accomplished,” head coach Deryn Carter said late last week. “There has been a buzz in school all week. The commitment from the (players) and from the community has been great. Next year we do not want to take a major step back. We have won conference championships three times in four years.” He is a 1998 graduate of Larkin, so the accomplishment makes him doubly pleased.
• A final note on West Aurora High School head basketball coach Brian Johnson, after the team made it to the super-sectional: “I’m excited for the Summer. It’s always fun to see who has improved and which player is going to step up. We had a solid sophomore team and our JV team was undefeated. A lot of growth was made. Then there is Traevon Brown, Latrone Kirkwood, and Moshe Rogers. We will lean on them next year greatly. We will play in the Geneva Summer League.”
• Parkview Christian in Yorkville, under head coach Don Davidson, on its way to Northeastern Conference, will bring top players back, including juniors, 6-5 Jake Angelo and 6-3 Stephen Brennwald, both first team in the Illinois Christian Conference.