Boys Basketball: With Gonzaga recruit Braden Huff leading the way, the buzz is real around Glenbard West

Braden Huff gets what kind of community he lives in.

When you’ve grown up in Glen Ellyn, you understand that football is king at Glenbard West. The football program’s recent record of success speaks for itself. Fall Saturdays at Duchon Field are an event.

This winter, though, Biester Gymnasium will be the place to be.

A Hilltoppers’ team with just about everybody back, led by Gonzaga recruit and Mr. Basketball candidate Huff, comes off a 13-1 abbreviated season. Glenbard West added a talented transfer that looks like the perfect piece to the puzzle, and validated itself with a dominant summer. One publication already has ranked Glenbard West No. 1 in the Chicago area, a rare occurrence for a suburban team.

“There is definitely a buzz around the team, with the guys that we have. We are excited to get started,” said Huff, a 6-foot-9 senior and top five player in Illinois’ Class of 2022. “All the preseason stuff is kind of outside noise. We have to prove it. But for right now, we are excited to get started.”

Huff is a big reason for the buzz.

He comes off a spectacular junior season, and continued to build on that over the summer. Huff won an AAU national title with the Illinois Wolves, and in September committed to Gonzaga, the defending national runner-up. Huff, a multi-talented player for his height and the first Gonzaga commit for the Class of 2022, seems to be an ideal fit for a program known for developing skilled big men.

“Since the finale of his AAU season, winning a national title, his confidence is just sky-high and he carries himself with a chip and is a leader,” Glenbard West coach Jason Opoka said. “He has done everything he has needed to do to put himself in a position to compete for Mr. Basketball.”

Huff is surrounded by a group of tall, skilled players that ran right through the West Suburban Conference last season and carried it into the summer.

Also back is versatile 6-foot-5 senior wing Caden Pierce, a Princeton commit, 6-4 senior Paxton Warden and physical 6-8 big Ryan Renfro. Renfro is committed to play at Army, as is 6-7 senior guard Bobby Durkin, who transferred from Hinsdale South to Glenbard West. As a sophomore the sweet-shooting Durkin was part of a Hinsdale South team that won the West Suburban Gold and a regional title.

Besides his shooting ability, Durkin brings a skilled, high IQ game with rebounding and playmaking ability and Opoka said is like having another coach on the floor.

“Bobby came in and it was like the glove fit perfectly. It is truly nice to bring a kid in and be a part of something for one year and it feels like he’s been here forever,” Opoka said. “He’s just a winning player. He’s willing to sacrifice and he wants to be part of a winning tradition and big games.”

“He is the perfect transfer for our team,” Huff said. “He is obviously an elite shooter but he is really unselfish and cares about winning. He has embraced the culture.”

The Hilltoppers provided a preview of their potential in June. They played close to 40 games, and lost just once. Glenbard West took part Simeon at the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout, and also beat highly regarded New Trier and St. Rita.

It has all eyes on Glenbard West entering the season.

The Hilltoppers will be severely tested with an ambitious non-conference schedule. They play Whitney Young at the When Sides Collide Shootout and at Fenwick in the MLK City/Suburban Classic in January, and at Class 1A favorite Yorkville Christian and against Hillcrest at the Team Rose Classic, and Glenbrook South at the Ridgewood Hoops Classic Shootout in December. Glenbard West also joined York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at Christmas.

Opoka knows his team will be a target every time they step on the court this season, but they’re prepared for it.

“We continue to preach what we’ve been telling these guys – we only have pressure if we’re not prepared and we will be the most prepared team every single night,” Opoka said. “Our work ethic and chemistry is not going to change. We just have to continue to improve every single day. We shouldn’t feel any nervousness or anxiety. Teams are going to give us everything they possibly have. We just have to make sure we fight through adversity.”

The schedule is preparation for what Huff and the Hilltoppers hope is a deep run to the state tournament, which is back in Champaign this season. Glenbard West has never won a state basketball title.

“It would be awesome to do that; that is for sure the goal,” Huff said. “It’s definitely a football town. If we were able to bring a first state basketball championship it would be an unbelievable experience.”