The selection of an all-century Illinois high school basketball team is interesting, yet fails in its single stated goal–honoring the best players the state has produced.
No matter what his reputation, Kevin Garnett should not belong on any “All-Illinois” squad. He was brought to Illinois as a senior for one purpose. As a basketball “soldier of fortune,” he might have easily selected West Podunk High School in New Mexico as Farragut Academy in Chicago. And to put this “paid Hessian” ahead of Marshall’s George Wilson is unfathomable. If you put Garnett on the team, you must also put Adolph Rupp down as one of the top coaches in the state, simply because he coached at Freeport in 1929.
It is a slight to keep DuSable’s famed Charlie Brown on the honorable-mention list. Brown was perhaps one of the top five forwards to come out of the Chicago Public League. He was strong and quick, with incredible range on his jump shot. He, along with guard Paxton Lumpkin and the rest of the DuSable squad of the early 1950s, forever changed the way the game was played in the city.
Lamarr Thomas of Thornton is a forgotten player these days, but he deserves recognition as one of the finest athletic guards ever to play the game. At 6-1, he was a solid scorer and rebounder as well as a tenacious defender. Until Quinn Buckner emerged some five years later, Thomas was considered one of the most dominating guards to have played the game in Illinois.
Cases, some stronger than others, can be made for the likes of Red Kerr of Tilden, Max Hooper of Mt. Vernon and Joe Bertrand of St. Elizabeth’s (a team that won 48 games in one season), among others.
Coaches? How can one overlook the two with the most wins: Centralia’s Art Trout and Peoria Manual’s Dick Van Scyoc?
As to your panel, I’m sure that at least one member, Bill Jauss, has a sense of history, but I wonder how many others who voted actually grew up with, played or wrote about the sport before 1980.
