Columnist

November 21, 2006

Basketball Season Here We Go!!                                                                                   

They say basketball is king in Illinois. Well that statement is definitely true for the basketball talent rich Chicago Public League. The top two teams in the state Simeon and Marshall come from the Public League. Simeon won it all in class AA last year while Marshall finished in third place. Only a loss to Simeon in the state semi-finals prevented Marshall from appearing in the state finals.

            Meanwhile, the rest of the Public League is not too shabby. This year Crane, Farragut, Morgan Park, Von Steuben, Lincoln Park, Washington, and Morgan Park will probably be regular top 25 teams throughout the year.

            In boys basketball, the Public League is broken up into two divisions: Blue and Red. Teams in the Red division are traditionally stronger teams. Whereas, the teams in the Blue Division generally need more improvement. Every year, the team that finishes last in the Blue division drops down to the Red division next year while the team that finishes first in the Blue division goes up to the Red Division.  So in the 2005-06 season, Northside Prep finished last in the Red-North so they got dropped to the Blue-North conference in the 2006-07 season. Whereas, Senn finished atop the Blue-North conference so they will be in the Red-North conference in 2006-07. Makes sense?

Below are the teams in the Public League Red-North conference. They are listed according to LaneTechFan.com projected order of finish.

Projected Order of finish Red-North:

1. Von Steuben

2. Senn

3. Lane Tech

4. Foreman

5. Lakeview

6. Taft                                                                                                                                                                  

Although, Von Steuben lost heavy to graduation, perennial power Von Steuben once again is the favorite to win the Red-North. Von Steuben will be guard Michael Horton and 6-5” forward Darius Fields. Furthermore, they will be boosted this year by sharp shooting junior guard Mike DiNunno a transfer from Lake Park. DiNunno transferred to Von Steuben last summer in a move that surprised a lot of people especially since Lake Park has a good basketball program and Von Steuben appears to be a little down this year.

Furthermore Coach Vince Carter has plenty in his arsenal from a talented group of sophomores and freshman from last year including now junior Deonte Lundeen and junior 6-4 Forward  Cordarrel Eldridge. Watch out for Von Steuben in the upcoming years, their incoming 2006-07 freshman class has a couple freshman rated in the top 50 in the area for the class of 2011.

But Von Steuben may be challenged this year by Lane Tech, Foreman, and new Red-North member Senn. For one, Von Steuben lacks star power. Gone is super guard Jeremie Simmons from last year and Angel Santiago form two years ago. So Von Steuben is not infallible. Their biggest challenger appears to be Senn.  Senn returns practically it’s entire starting line-up including 6’-7” center Byron Pickens and 6’1” senior guard Davone Robinson, that handily won the Blue-North. Foreman is coming off a season where they lost in the regional final to a good New Trier team. One of Foreman’s top player this year is  5’9” senior guard Jamill Harris.

Lakeview may surprise some folks this year as well. Lakeview is capable of scoring points. Taft, will be hard pressed to make it out of last place in the Red-North this year. Their only chance will be to sport an upset versus Lane, Lakeview or Foreman. Look for Northside Prep or Mather from the Blue-North conference to move up to the Red-North next year.