The Decade of the 1990's

This is the fifth post in a series of seven that I am writing about the great Illinois high school basketball programs and their coaches. The decade of the 90's belonged to Peoria Manual and their legendary coach Wayne McClain. The Rams won four straight state championships and treated the Class AA state tournament like it was their own invitational. The 90's also featured powerhouse programs like Maywood Proviso East, Chicago King, Quincy, and East St. Louis Lincoln in Class AA, while Class A was loaded with Pinckneyville, Harrisburg, Nokomis, and Nashville.

The Rams from Peoria Manual treated the Class AA state tournament like it was their invitational. Much like UCLA treated the NCAA Tournament in the 60's and 70's under John Wooden. The Rams had an outstanding coach in Wayne McClain, but like UCLA they had some great players, also. They had THREE Illinois Mr. Basketball recipients, who also were HS All-Americans during this decade of the 90's.

Maywood Proviso East won the state championship in '91 and '92. Coached by Bill Hitt, East was 231-68 during the decade. Chicago King also won two state championships during the 90's. The undefeated Jaguars were 32-0 in '90 on their way to a state championship. King won another state title in '93. East St. Louis Lincoln continued their winning ways right into the 90's with a 159-85 record including a 3rd place in the state in '90. Quincy was 229-65 in the decade with a 4th place finish in '90 and a 3rd place finish in '98. But the decade belonged to Peoria Manual. Wayne McClain, the new coach of the Rams, began his career at Manual with three straight Illinois State Championships. Manual was so dominant that they lost only 25 games out of 258 in the entire decade. The Rams won state in '94, '95, '96, and '97. They had a 2nd place finish in '91. McClain followed several of his players to Illinois after his tenure at Manual that ended with a 163-22 record. Rockford Auburn, coached by Steve Goers, had three 4th place finishes in the state tournament during the 90's — '92, '94, and '97. Rockford Auburn was 214-69 in the decade. Goers finished his HOF career with 881 wins. Lincoln High School was 191-85. Teutopolis, coached by Ken Crawford, who won 612 games in his 26-year career, won a state title in '86 and won 206 games while losing 73 in the decade. Peoria High was 214-69. Chicago Westinghouse was 211-32 (missing '97 and '98 records) and won 3rd place in '92.

In the Class A Tournament, McLeansboro returned in '91 and won 3rd place. Rich Herrin's Benton Rangers finished 3rd in '92 and finished the decade 186-76. Pinckneyville won the state Class A Championship trophy in '94 and compiled a 221-76 record. Cairo won 3rd place in '93. Breese Mater Dei finished 2nd in '96. Harrisburg was 159-57 in the decade under the leadership of Coach Randy Smithpeters (no record for 3 years). Nokomis has been a winning and highly respected small school basketball program for decades. Steve Kimbro coached there for 39 years, amassing an unbelievable 838 wins at one school. In the 90's the Redskins were 216-66. Another Class A school with a history of success that began in the '70s and continues even today is Waltonville. Coach Ed Belva finished a 24-year career with a record of 425-221 for the Spartans. Nashville, under the guidance of Darrin Lee, coached the Hornets to a 426-128 record over 18 years before taking over at Collinsville. During Lee's tenure in Nashville, they made the Elite Eight five times.

The 1996-97 Peoria Manual Rams — IHSA State Champions. All four of these men are in the Illinois High School Hall of Fame, including the team. Coach Wayne McClain, Sergio McClain, Marcus Griffin, and Frank Williams.

NEXT THE 2000's