Dennis Gates, Whitney Young, Class of 1998

Dennis Gates was a key part of the 1998 Class AA state champion Whitney Young Dolphins.  Prior to that championship, Whitney Young was never one of the first teams mentioned when going down the list of great teams in Chicago.  Since then, they’ve been a powerhouse in the CPS.  After graduating from Young, Gates played his collegiate ball in the Pac-10 at Cal.  He has since gotten into coaching.  His first job was at Northern Illinois, and now he is on Nevada’s staff as an assistant.  End to End caught up with Dennis to talk about his IHSA days and what his been up to since.

Talk about being part of the Whitney Young state championship team

First, you got to look at the friendships we had off the court.  Me, Quentin Richardson, Cordell Henry; we all knew each other since seventh grade.  When it came down to it, we all said we wanted to go to the same high school.  It was a dream of all of ours growing up to win a state championship, and we did it.

Explain what your experience was like playing at Cal

It allowed me to grow a lot more than it would have had I stayed around my parents and support system.  I basically had to learn on my own being thousands of miles away from Chicago at Cal.  It was an unbelievable situation.  Ben Braun and Charles Ramsey recruited me, but I also had a teammate from Chicago – Sean Lampley.  I saw his success, and he encouraged me to look at Cal.  It’s a great academic institution, and great basketball so it was the best of both worlds.

What has the adjustment been like from being a player to a coach?

For me as a player, I was always a leader on the team.  Everybody knew growing up, except for me, that I’d be a coach.  From Quentin, to my high school coach George Stanton, and Cyrus McGinnis, they all used to tell me I’d be a coach when I was 13.  My hat’s off to those guys for seeing those qualities in me.  Now as I take that side of the fence of coaching, I still have player and coach’s mentality.

Do you think your Young team was better than the Simeon’s state championship teams?

What you got to look at is this, and I’ll explain this to anybody, is the teams we had to go through.  Now you have four classes, and we only had two.  There was only one team allowed to come out of the city, and that was us.  We went through Farragut, Simeon, Julian, Westinghouse, and Marshall.  To be city champions was an honor.  Downstate we beat Sean Harrington (Illinois) and Elgin, The Douglas boys at Quincy, and Rod Thompson (Iowa) and Joey Range (Iowa) from Galesburg in the finals.

A.J. Guyton, Peoria Central, Class of 1996

While the Peoria Manual Rams were stealing all the headlines in the late nineties winning four consecutive state titles, A.J Guyton had a successful high school career at Peoria Central.

Guyton went on to play collegiately in the Big Ten at Indiana University.  It didn’t take the 6’1’’ combo guard with a deadly cross and silk stroke to make his impact felt in Bloomington.  After averaging nearly 14 points as a freshman, Guyton would become the Big Ten Co-MVP by the time he was a senior averaging nearly 20 points.  He finished his career as the fourth all time leading scorer for one of the most storied programs in the country.

Guyton had a two-year stint in the NBA, one season with the Chicago Bulls, played overseas in Europe, and now currently plays in Argentina.  End to End had the chance to catch up with A.J. about his playing days, and what’s in store for him.

Describe your high school career, and how your recruitment went?

My high school career was pretty good.  Back then I was a pretty good scorer, and I was trying to learn how to become a leader.  It enabled me to get recruited by some division one programs.  At the very beginning there weren’t that many major programs recruiting me.  Playing at Peoria Central gave me a lot of exposure.  I was able to go to the Nike camp, I was able to get on Larry Butler’s Illinois Warriors, and get some exposure at the right AAU tournaments. I got recruited by Indiana, Missouri, St. Louis, Michigan St., and Bradley.

Historically, Peoria has always produced plenty of college basketball players.  Was there ever a rivalry with Chicago?  Where is the better basketball played?

(Laughs).  Obviously at home, I felt like our competition was great up until around 2004.  Then kids starting transferring a lot, and there was a little bit of a drop off.  Chicago definitely has an edge because they have so many more kids and schools.  Peoria’s always been competitive though.  We win our share of championships, and send teams to the state finals every other year.  My argument is always this; I know they respect us and that’s all you can ask for.  They know they could never look past us and they had to bring their A-game or we were going to win.

Talk about what it was like playing for Coach Knight at Indiana.

It was the greatest experience of my life up to this point.  Coach gets a bad rap from people who don’t understand his philosophy or what he’s teaching us inside the basketball team.  I really don’t take into consideration what anybody else says unless you were part of the program.  He made us the men we are today.  If you look, we’re all successful.

You’ve played in the NBA and overseas for several years now, what are you goals moving forward?

My goals are to give back to basketball what it has given to me.  I want to get into coaching at the collegiate level.  What I can bring as a collegiate coach is really need in today’s basketball world.  I’m still young enough to get out there and show what I’m trying to teach.  So my ultimate goal is to be a college coach and give back to it some of the things I got out of it.

What were the main differences in the game between the NBA and overseas?

The style overseas is totally different.  You have to restructure your game to fit in overseas.  The pace is different, and how the game is officiated too.  You have to be in top-notch shape.  Going from big men who dunk all the time in America, to big men who shoot threes.  I always cringe when I hear NBA guys are starting a career overseas because I know what type of adjustment they’re going to have to make.  It’s not easy.

What do you think of IHSA’s switch to four class basketball?

I don’t like the switch.  It was perfect the way it was.  It’s a big mess now.  Unless they have a round robin of the four champions, then you will never know who the real champion is.  I prefer they go back to the old format.

Quinnel Brown, Morgan Park, Class of 2001

Before 2003, only one team from the Chicago Public Schools could earn a bid downstate by winning the CPS tournament at the end of the regular season. Aside from city bragging rights on the line, this also served as the state playoffs for the city teams involved. In 2001, Morgan Park met Crane in the championship game, at the United Center, for the right to compete in the elite 8 in Peoria.

Crane had been highly publicized all season as they were led by point guard Will Bynum. Bynum, 5’10’’, was a first team all-state selection and a consensus top 100 player in the nation. Crane also featured several highly rated underclassmen to complement Bynum. While Morgan Park didn’t have any players who were household names among IHSA basketball fans going into the game, they certainly had one after.

Quinnel Brown, a 6’6 small forward and jack-of-all-trades type player, led the Morgan Park Mustangs to a CPS championship over Crane, and eventually to a third place finish downstate. Currently “Q” is playing with the Gary Steelheads in the CBA, and took the time to sit down with End to End to reflect on his journey to where he is today.

Talk about winning the city championship as a senior, when it was still the CPL’s only bid downstate?

Well it was most definitely the best feeling I’ve had while playing basketball to this day! It was a great experience for not only me but my teammates as well cause at that time everybody was trying to continue their career after M.P. and by winning the city championship that helped get some scholarships that was needed.

What was your recruiting process like?

Well I had a lot of schools to choose from but it wasn’t the schools you dream about going to. So I decided to go to juco and work on some things and make it to the level I thought I should be playing on. It came down to Creighton or Auburn, so I decided to attend Auburn!

You went to Junior College, Auburn, played in Europe and now you are back here, talk about how those experiences have shaped you as a player and a person?

Well overall I think I have changed as a person most because I never lived alone before going away to college, so I had more responsibilities than before. I think anyone that goes away to play ball no matter where it is you will get better because you have so much time to work on your game. When I was at Auburn and overseas we had access to the gym whenever we needed so that helped me out as a player a lot. Listening to older guys who been through it already helps out a lot also!

What do you think of the 4 class system in IHSA basketball?

I think its ok cause it wouldn’t go as smooth without it. It’s a lot of schools, so it’s great idea to me!

Best player you faced from Illinois in your 4 years of High School or AAU?

Will Bynum, no doubt! He did everything on the floor from scoring to defending!!

What advice do you have for IHSA players who want to play at the next level?

I would tell them to take it serious from the start. When I say that, I mean if you’re supposed to be in the weight room or practice at a certain time, be there ready to go. Normally, those who do the little things like that will go on to play ball somewhere else no matter where it is.