Meet the Staff
Scott Powers – Editor
Scott Powers has been covering Illinois high school basketball for the past 10 years. He has written for the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, Chicago Sports Weekly, ESPN, and Scout.com among others. He is also the editor and publisher of Ill. Hoops. He is also a member of the United States Basketball Writers Association and has won awards from the Illinois and Indiana press associations.
Danny Hazan – President
Below is from the “My Favorite IHSA Hoops Memory” section of End to End’s first issue. Written by Danny Hazan
As I was walking into Carver Arena for the first time in 1997 for the boy’s basketball Class AA Elite Eight, I remember being disappointed that I wasn’t going to see Deerfield’s Ryan Hogan. As a seventh grader being raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago, he was the best player that I had been exposed to up to that point. Niles’ Notre Dame had upset Deerfield in the super-sectionals only a few days earlier, and was playing in the day’s first game against Rockford Boylan.
As luck would have it, our seats were right next to the boisterous Boylan section. After Nick Zachary and Damir Krupalija led the Titans to a victory, and a spot in the final four, any ounce of disappointment I had going into the day left my mind. As the day of basketball progressed, I knew I was hooked for life. The electric atmosphere in the arena from the respective fan bases, and the skill level of the final eight teams left in the state tournament, was like nothing I had ever seen before.
Many of the first day’s highlights are still entrenched in my memory. Watching Hinsdale Central’s Brian Wardle drain eight three’s against the ultra talented Thornton team, led by Melvin Ely, Napoleon Harris, and Antwaan Randle-El, wasn’t quite enough to pull off the win but was clearly the best individual performance I had seen all weekend. West Aurora’s rowdy fan base helped propel their team to an impressive victory over downstate powerhouse Mt. Vernon. However, Mt. Vernon’s Kent Williams may have been the best player in that game. The night was capped off with Peoria Manual against Whitney Young.
Whitney Young had been the Cinderella of the tournament, as they upset their way through the Chicago Public League playoffs and earned a birth to play in the Elite Eight in Peoria. Juniors, Quentin Richardson and Cordell Henry, led the Dolphins. Even though they couldn’t pull off the upset against the three-time defending state champion Rams, I’ll never forget, senior, Lonnie Holland’s dunk in the first quarter that nearly blew the roof off of the arena.
After a great two days of highly competitive basketball, fueled by unparalleled passion from the players and fans, I had gotten my education of what IHSA hoops was all about. Watching Frankie Williams, Sergio McClain, and Marcus Griffin lead Manual to their fourth straight title was something I don’t think I’ll ever see again.
As the years passed, I watched Krupalija, Frankie, Sergio and Marcus carry the Illini to a Big Ten Championship. I saw Wardle take his lights out shooting ability up north and excel at Marquette. I saw Napoleon Harris and Antwaan Randel-El become two-sport athletes at Northwestern and Indiana, respectively. Now they are both in the NFL. Melvin Ely was an all conference player at Fresno State, and is still in the NBA. Kent Williams helped take the, “mid-major”, label off of Southern Illinois by leading them to several impressive seasons and runs in the Big Dance.
I have gone to Peoria for every boy’s basketball state tournament since I started going in ’97. I have seen several players in subsequent years to go on and star in college and the pros, just like I saw in ’97. My first real taste of IHSA basketball, the 1997 Elite Eight, always will remain my greatest memory of IHSA basketball.
