Coaches and/or athletic directors, please email info on your team to mobrien@suntimes.com. Only emails will be accepted. I’ll send out a preview on every team that sends information. You can follow along on X @michaelsobrien or read the previews here. All Illinois schools are eligible, not just schools in the Sun-Times’ coverage area. Please include the following:
School:
Coach:
Cell Phone:
Outlook for this season:
Top Returning Players (Position, Height, Year in school):
Top Newcomers (Position, Height, Year in school):
Top teams in your conference:
Players on your team and in the conference to consider for the list of the area’s best:
Interesting story idea about your team:
I’ll be updating this story nearly every day until the start of the season. Here’s everything that has been sent out so far:
Deerfield: Leading scorers Jake Pollack (Dartmouth) and Evan Nagler return from a 24-8 team that advanced to the sectional finals. Tommy Donahue is also back. Sophomores Charlie Yellen and Tyler Sale will have impactful roles.
Downers Grove North: Graduated most key players for the second straight year. Not many seniors and not much experience. Starter Jack Romsey returns. Two juniors, 6-8 Colin Doyle and 6-6 Jacob Vroman, were strong over the summer and will grow throughout the season.
Grayslake North: Three-year captain Uros Mitrovic leads a team filled with talented but largely unproven players. Mitrovic, 6-5, is 6 points short of 1,000 and 8 threes from the school’s all-time record. Tall group with a pair of 6-7 sophs, including Jared Van Donselaar.
Loyola: Looking for ninth consecutive 20-win season and to improve on last year’s Sweet 16 appearance. Starters Trey Williams (Cornell), Sam Golden and Luke Alvarez are back. Brody Munsey-Johnson and Danny Lee played valuable minutes last season.
Oswego: Unselfish group that shoots well. Sophomore Ethan Vahl will pass the 1,000-point mark this season. Senior Brayden Borrowman and junior Graham Schwab also return. Fans will be impressed with sophomore MJ Johnson, who will start. Keep an eye on 6-11 soph Cole Jansons.
West Aurora: Looking to build on 21-9 record and conference title. Junior guard Travis Brown leads a team dominated by underclassmen. Transfers Jordan Weeks and James Baker add size and depth. Juniors Jaden Matthews-Thomas and Orlando Edwards provide athleticism on the perimeter.
Yorkville: Looking for big improvements this season behind four returning starters. Braydon Porter, 6-7 Joey Jakstys, Gabe Sanders and Frankie Pavlik are all back. Will have 3-4 sophomores on varsity. Sophs Jakstys and Porter are already receiving college interest.