By Bobby Narang
Both the Yorkville High School boys basketball team and the football team experienced a solid Summer that could lead to another banner showing in the upcoming season.
On the basketball front, the Foxes played in several highly competitive tournaments. In past years, the Foxes dealt with a loss of several talented players to baseball during the critical one-month Summer team season in June.
Yorkville basketball coach John Holakovsky said he had a high number of players, which allowed his program to test themselves.
“We played every single weekend in June, and in the Tuesday and Thursday night in our summer league, close to 30 games,” he said. “We had a lot of success, we played a lot of competitive teams and won some of those games. We’ve gotten a lot better as a team, raising our level of our play against some of the best teams in the State.”
A year ago, the Foxes were limited and did not even play in any live events in June. The busy June period helped raise the stock of senior center Jason Jakstys. The 6-foot-10 Jakstys picked up an offer from Illinois in early June.
Jakstys, who averaged 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds to lead the Foxes to a 26-6 record last season, has 11 offers, but the Illini were his first from a Power Five Conference team.
“It meant a lot because I have received the opportunity to play for a school that I grew up watching,” Jakstys said of the Illinois offer. “It was also my first high-major offer. I have been talking to Illinois for a bit, but I was still surprised.”
Holakovsky said Jakstys separates himself from other players because of his high ceiling.
“Jason is a really good player,” he said. “Jason has been our top guy carrying us. He’s gotten so much better every year. Every time you watch him play, whether it’s his three-point shooting, driving to the basket, blocking shots, there’s constant improvement in his game. He’s constantly growing and improving. He’s still figuring out his body and getting strong.
“At 6-10, he can bring the ball down the court in transition. There’s a lot of diversity in his game and the sky is the limit for him. Last year motivated him a lot. He was one of our leaders last year even though he was not a senior.”
On the football side, the Foxes had a season to remember in 2022, winning 10 of their 12 games. But the Foxes lost a large number of talented players to graduation, and coach Dan McGuire said his players are ready for the challenge of making another run in 2023.
“Our goal is always to take forward from what we did last year, and hold that bar little bit higher,” McGuire said. “I think our kids are accepting that challenge. I’m proud of our team for competing against some of the best teams in the State.”