Spring break for Jon Scheyer meant kicking back under a warm Arizona sun and soaking in the memories of an incredible playoff run.
The ultimate team player, Scheyer luxuriated most in helping Glenbrook North win its first state basketball title.
The boyish-looking, fun-loving 6-foot-6-inch junior prefers to blend right in, and he looked like any other happy teenager hugging teammates and being engulfed by wave after wave of jubilant Glenbrook North students who spilled onto the Carver Arena floor March 19 in Peoria.
But few players can match the playoff numbers Scheyer put up from the March 1 regional opener to the Class AA championship game.
In the most crucial eight games of the season, Scheyer averaged 28.5 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots. He scored 48 points in a supersectional victory over Waukegan and averaged 33.5 points per game in the state finals, including a stretch of 31 consecutive free throws.
Jon Scheyer was to March what the Bulls’ Ben Gordon is to the fourth quarter.
For his efforts, Scheyer is the WGN-Ch. 9/Tribune March Athlete of the Month. The junior also finished second in the 2005 Mr. Basketball of Illinois voting, right behind 6-9 Homewood-Flossmoor forward Julian Wright.
“Those eight games were the best stretch of basketball in my career,” said Scheyer, who has narrowed his college choices to Illinois, Duke, Arizona and Wisconsin. “After we finished third my freshman year, I wanted to win the whole thing this time and finally knew what it would take.”
Most rewarding for Glenbrook North fans and the game’s purists who favor the old-school approach, Scheyer put up those numbers while operating within the Spartans’ motion offense.
“I’ve developed into the player I am out of that system,” Scheyer said of the scheme that borrows liberally from the offense run by Illinois coach Bruce Weber. “We pass up good shots for great shots. Teams don’t do that very much these days. And I couldn’t be successful without all of my teammates making the back-door passes and setting tough screens.”
Glenbrook North coach Dave Weber, younger brother of the Illini coach, has been contacted by 30 high school coaches–including one from Texas–for advice on installing his motion offense.
“We had a drill at the end of practice when everyone is tired,” said Scheyer’s backcourt mate, Sean Wallis. “We had to complete 60 passes in a row against a man-to-man defense. If we messed up, we started all over.”
That’s why the Spartans took such good care of the ball in Peoria.
“Everyone is asking me about our offense, but you need a player like Jon to make it look that good,” Dave Weber said. “His overall play was incredible, and it was one of the most complete performances this state has ever seen. He wanted to make his mark in state history.
“And the key to our success is that Jon is so unselfish. That allows his teammates to become better players. He makes everyone around him better, and not many players do that anymore.”
Weber compared Scheyer to Illinois’ most valuable player, point guard Deron Williams.
“When either one is resting on the bench, it’s like playing four against five,” Weber said. “They both do so many smart things, and everything on both our teams go through Jon and Deron.”
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bsakamoto@tribune.com
