The Forgotten Era: Illinois High School Basketball Legends Before 1950

Like most sports fans, I like to compare players and teams even though I know it is not fair or even possible. I also like lists, lists of the best AND by rank. As a former player, coach and a fan for over 70 years, I know that is not feasible and certainly not a very scientific approach. But it is fun and it does create a lot of interest, opinions, and unfortunately sometimes some hostility. We all know that "fans" is an abbreviation for FANATICS! I understand the futility of the exercise. But it is still interesting and it generates a lot of interest. There have been many rankings of the best high school basketball players in the history of Illinois. I have even gone through some of those lists in my research for this article. As a former Illinois All-State high school player from the 60's, I wanted to share my thoughts but from a different approach. I have also been a coach for 22 years in high school (3 at Salem, Il) as well as college. So, I have a different perspective, which does not make it right but maybe unique.

First, I intend to focus on each decade of players. I think this accomplishes two very important objectives; 1) there are fewer players to evaluate at one time, 2) the 10-year periods or eras make it easier to navigate. As I mentioned earlier, the task of ranking and comparing players or teams over 30, 60 or 100 years is very difficult, if not impossible. Also, by comparing players within a 10-year period there are fewer rule changes and strategies to the game. Each player is compared to their peers during the same era, not someone who played 25 years before or after.

This is not an op-ed or feeling-based exercise. After 8 months of research for my book The G.O.A.T.: The Quest to Find the Best of the greatest players of all time, my all-time favorite player did not make my top 10. The player I always thought, going back to the 50's, was the greatest player ever, finished FOURTH in my ranking based on my 10 criteria. So how did I come up with these 20 players and how did I reduce that number to 10 from each decade as the best? Good question and here are my criteria; 1) players that were selected multiple years 2) players that were selected by multiple outlets, two or more papers 3) players that were considered by the coaches and "experts" to be generational (best in decades) 4) players that played for winning programs 5) players that played at larger schools were given more credibility, especially after 2007 when Illinois went to a four-class system (I struggled with this criteria because I know an outstanding high school player can come from a small school.)

Some of you might be wondering, why start with the 50's? The 50's ushered in the "golden age" of high school basketball in Illinois. High school basketball was a "big deal" in so many communities. The gyms were full and players were "worshiped". I intend to publish my list of twenty players from each decade for the next 7 weeks. After everyone has had a chance to see the players on the list AND vote for their choices or submit a name of someone you think deserves to be on the list, then I will show my top 10 picks for each decade before I publish my next list of players. I encourage your participation, but please have some facts or stats to back up your submissions. Sorry, "I played with him at the park and he could really ball" will not get your guy on the list. I am looking forward to your input and comments. I know I missed some great players so help me out with your picks.

Before I get to the 1950's and my lists, I wanted to mention some of the Illinois high school legends that played before 1950. I can't mention all the great players from the 30's and 40's, but many of you will recognize some of these names. You don't have to be a high school basketball fan or even a sports fan in Illinois to know the name Dike Eddleman from Centralia. In his four-year career playing for the Orphans, his teams won 136 games. He led the state in scoring in 1941 and 1942. He is one of only seven players to make All-State for three years. Eddleman is considered the best athlete ever to attend the U. of Illinois, where he earned 11 letters in track, basketball, and football. He played in the early NBA.

Perhaps the second-best high school basketball player to come out of the state pre-1950 was Lou Boudreau. Boudreau played at Harvey Thornton from 1933-35, where he also was a three-time All-State player. Boudreau was an All-American at the UI before a 15-year career in major league baseball where he became an All-Star and was voted into the Hall-of-Fame in 1970.

Walter "Hoot" Evers was a two-time All-Stater from basketball powerhouse Collinsville HS. Evers was a multi-sport star at Collinsville and later at Illinois. He went on to a 12-year career in the major leagues.

My next pre-1950 great was one of the most famous members of the legendary "Whiz Kids" while playing at the University of Illinois. That 1942-43 Illini team won the Big Ten and finished 17-1, best in the country. (Three of the starters were drafted into the war after the season ended so the team turned down an offer to play in the tournament.) Andy Phillips was a 1948 All-Stater who went on to a great career at Illinois. His Granite City high school team won the 1940 state tournament by beating Herrin 24-22. He played 10 years in professional basketball.

Gene Vance, also a member of the "Whiz Kids" was an All-State player at Clinton in 1948. After an outstanding college career at Illinois, Vance was drafted by the Chicago Stags and played for five years in the NBA.

Otto Graham was a 1938 All-State selection from Waukegan. Graham is more widely known as a HOF quarterback in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns. He went to Northwestern on a basketball scholarship but realized his first love was football.

Ron Bontemps, a 1944 Taylorville All-State selection, led his high school team to a 45-0 season and a state championship. (Also on that team was Johnny Orr.) The Tornados were coached by one of the greatest coaches in Illinois' basketball history, Dolph Stanley. Bontemps, after one year at Illinois, joined Coach Stanley at Beloit College where he became an All American and a member of the 1952 Olympic team.

Walt Kirk, a 1949 Mt. Vernon Rams All-Stater, signed at Illinois and became a starter on the great "Whiz Kids" team. He was named to the All-Big Ten team for three years. He later played professional basketball for seven years.

The first year that the Illinois High School Association began voting on all-state teams was in 1933. There are so many other great high school players during the 17 years leading up to the 1950's that I did not list here due to time and space. Feel free to contact me and name your favorite. Noticeably missing are three basketball greats that many of you know from Illinois, George Mikan, Harry "The Horse" Gallatin, and Johnny "Red" Kerr. I did not list them because in my opening paragraph I gave five criteria, and two of those were that the player had to be listed in multiple publications and/or multiple years; neither Mikan, Gallatin, nor Orr met that criteria. Actually, all three made their reputation in basketball after high school.