Adams has seen Orr soar from depths
No. 1
What might have been overlooked in Orr’s rise to prominence — a Class 2A state championship last season and a trip to the Chicago Public League championship game this season — is where the program was before coach Lou Adams arrived.
“No one wanted to even take this job,” Adams said of his hiring 11 years ago. “We didn’t have uniforms. People were afraid of the neighborhood. I couldn’t even get kids to come to school here.”
But Myke Henry did come. And Adams had two gyms at Orr. Those were two keys, he believes, in helping build the program from the depths of nothing.
Adams believes the arrival of Henry, a top- 100 player nationally in high school who played at Illinois and DePaul and now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, helped change the perception.
“Myke Henry was huge,” Adams said. “But from a program standpoint, the only thing we had going for us is that we had two gyms in the school, so we at least knew we would always have gym space and could have a gym for kids to get into a lot.”
Orr became competitive and a recognizable name with Henry. But after Henry’s departure in 2011, Orr started to win big. Since the 2012- 2013 season, Orr has averaged 22 victories, finished fourth in Class 2A in 2013 and third in 2014 and won a state title last year.
“To be honest, to see how far this program has come, to see where it is now compared to what it was, I’ve already won the Super Bowl,” Adams said. “I couldn’t have imagined or ever dreamed that we would go from where we were to winning a state championship last year and playing for a city championship this year.”
No. 2
There was some good news for high school basketball fans with the release of the IHSA Class 3A and 4A brackets Friday.
While there will still be plenty of work to be done next month, the possibility of the two best teams and two best players in Class 4A meeting on the final night of the season in Peoria is real.
Simeon, the state’s No. 1- ranked team, and Belleville West, a state power from southern Illinois, have been put in opposite brackets. The teams boast two of the biggest stars in the state, which only adds to the attraction.
Senior Talen Horton- Tucker, the favorite for Player of the Year honors, leads Simeon. Belleville West features 6- 7 E. J. Liddell, the City/ Suburban Hoops Report’s topranked junior prospect in Illinois and a top- 50 player nationally.
No. 3
Recent victories against Joliet Central and Romeoville, as well as 13 wins in its last 15 games, make Oswego East a dangerous No. 5 sectional seed.
First- year coach Ryan Velasquez’s team has shown the improvement expected from a young group brimming with talent.
The Wolves began the season 3- 5, including losses to Romeoville and Joliet Central. Behind a young nucleus, led by junior guard Ray J Dennis, athletic 6- 5 junior Kamron Battle and 6- 7 sophomore Sam Schultz, Oswego East ( 17- 7) is a legit threat heading into March and will host its own regional in which it could face Joliet Central for a third time.