Irvin fuels Morgan Park’s success
No.1
Morgan Park might or might not win a city championship in the next couple of weeks.
The Mustangs might or might not win a third Class 3A championship in a row next month.
But whether either of those accomplishments occurs, this is arguably the best coaching job Nick Irvin has turned in during his 11 years leading the South Side power.
While there is still outstanding talent at Morgan Park, including the best junior prospect in the state in guard Adam Miller, this was not supposed to be a typical Mustangs juggernaut.
After losing superstar Ayo Dosunmu and fellow Division I talents Cam Burrell and Kenyon Duling to graduation, Morgan Park has reached early February with a 22-3 record and is ranked No. 3 in the Super 25. The Mustangs have victories against Bogan, Simeon, DePaul Prep and Bolingbrook.
Irvin’s teams, no matter the year, always play with something to prove and rarely, if ever, take the floor uninterested. With Irvin’s constant energy and intensity, the Mustangs are at full throttle for 32 minutes. That’s not an easy thing for a coach to instill.
Irvin not only has his team playing unselfishly, but he has blended pieces together and helped turn DeShawndre Washington into a Division I prospect.
No. 2
Under-the-radar teams with young talent are the ones you want to be mindful of as a high sectional seed. Mundelein fits the description.
The Mustangs are unranked, and their 15-8 record might not jump out at you. But three sophomores are leading the way and getting better by the month.
That young trio — 6-2 guard Conor Enright (16 points, five assists), 6-8 Scottie Ebube (16 points, 9.5 rebounds) and 6-3 Jack Bikus (nine points, eight rebounds) — forms the nucleus of a program on the verge of turning the corner.
When these players entered high school last year, Mundelein was coming off a stretch in which it had gone 11-106 in the previous four seasons. Enright and Ebube shared in the improvement as freshmen last season, when the Mustangs finished 14-17. But now this young group is pushing toward 20 victories.
No. 3
Regardless of whom or where you play, scoring 2,000 points in your high school career is a mammoth achievement.
Zach Toussaint never is going to get a ton of buzz in the Chicago area playing for a 13-9 Johnsburg team in the Kishwaukee River Conference. But the slender, fun-towatch 5-11 guard became the first player in McHenry County history to score 2,000 career points this past weekend.
Remarkably, Toussaint scored only 56 points during his freshman season, so nearly all the work has been done in three seasons. He is on pace to score 2,200-plus career points, which would put him among the top 75 scorers in state history.
A terrific shooter with 278 career three-pointers and a chance to become only the 21st player in state history to reach 300 threepointers made, Toussaint signed with Division II West Texas A&M in the fall.
Toussaint has faced gimmick defenses all season, but he’s averaging 24.8 points to go with 4.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He has had games of 51 and 43 points this season and scored 52 in a game last season.