Jackson Rennick was the most noticeable York basketball player in Champaign on Friday – and not just for his play.

It’s gotta be the hair.

The York senior made a deal with teammate Costa Kampas that if the Dukes won conference, he’d get his hair done.

The player dubbed the “Worm” in homage to former NBA star Dennis Rodman had his hair bleached with black spots.

“It kind of brought us luck,” Rennick said. “We just kept on winning. You got to rock it.”

It was indeed quite the ride in Elmhurst this season. The ride lasted all the way to Champaign, York basketball’s first state tournament appearance in 59 years.

Two losses Friday, the second a 56-46 loss to DePaul Prep in the Class 4A third-place at State Farm Center, were a downer.

But it couldn’t dull the brilliance of a most unexpected season that ended with the first state trophy in the over 100-year history of York basketball.

“Everyone has been doubting us,” Rennick said. “We used that as motivation and that motivation led us here. It was a disappointing two games we played here, but we’re a brotherhood. We’ll remember this forever.”

Rennick, one of three football players on York’s team and a Wisconsin-Whitewater recruit as a lineman in that sport, was the Dukes’ heart and soul with his hustle play.

It inspired a York assistant to give Rennick the nickname of the “Worm,” after the player who won two NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons and three with the Chicago Bulls.

Had Rennick even heard of Rodman?

“Of course I know who Dennis Rodman is,” Rennick said. “I was born in Michigan, I knew him as the Worm and the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons. I know a lot about him, I try to aspire to play like him.”

York, after a 55-38 semifinal loss to Marist earlier Friday in which the Dukes were never in it, played inspired against DePaul Prep that night.

Sawyer Asgedom hit two 3-pointers to keep York within 17-15 after a quarter. Miles Burnison’s 3-pointer on the first possession of the second quarter gave the Dukes a brief lead.

DePaul Prep eventually surged ahead by double digits by halftime, but York kept playing. Asgedom’s 3-pointer with 3:40 left in the game got the Dukes back within 50-44.

“We said we wanted to do it for the seniors tonight,” said Asgedom, a junior guard. “It’s our last time ever with them.”

It’s been quite a week for Asgedom, who sported a wide smile in the middle of team pictures with the trophy. He was the hero in Monday’s supersectional win with a 3-pointer in overtime to beat St. Ignatius.

“It was amazing to do it with this group,” Asgedom said.

The postseason run continued quite a run over three sports for York senior Hunter Stepanich. The Princeton volleyball and football commit was on a volleyball state runner-up in 2024, and football Class 8A runner-up later that calendar year.

He raised one finger in the air and high-fived fans after receiving his third-place medal.

But Stepanich later teared up reflecting on the end of the journey.

“It’s our last day together, and we knew it would be our last day, the opportunity to play with them more two more days was special,” Stepanich said. “We just kept winning, kept getting better together. We knew this team could have a great year. We did and left our legacy.”

York, a school long known for its storied cross country program under the legendary Joe Newton, has had quite a run across the board lately.

Its baseball team took fourth place in the state in 2023 and 2024, the latter the same spring as the volleyball runner-up.

York football made history with the Class 8A runner-up in 2024. Last fall, York’s first state tennis champion was crowned, Caroline Coan.

Now York basketball is on the map. A record 32 wins, and a trophy.

It meant a lot to coach Mike Dunn, who came to the Elmhurst school in 2020. His great-grandfather, Clarence D. East, was the school’s first athletic director, basketball coach and football coach.

“Incredible year,” Dunn said. “It’s been so hard because everything has happened so fast and we haven’t really had a chance to appreciate it. Obviously just the ultimate group of kids that bought in to what we stand for, doing it the right way. I’m speechless I’m so proud of these kids.