Boys Basketball

Gabe Sularski transferred from Benet to Lemont last season. The top-rated boys basketball prospect in Illinois for 2026 is now transferring to Layton Christian Academy in Utah

Recent Seneca High School graduate Sebastian Deering has committed to continue his education at Aurora University and his basketball career at the NCAA Division III level with the Spartans.

Former Harvest Christian Academy boys basketball coach Lafeyette Bell has been named the new coach at Marian Central. Bell led Harvest Christian to 21 wins and a Class 1A regional championship in 2024.

After a fourth straight 20-win season and graduation of the winningest class in school history, DeKalb is officially in rebuild mode. The Barbs have spent the summer breaking in a new group of underclassmen.

Sycamore's boys basketball team, which is coming off its best record since 2001-02, has dedicated this summer to chasing another dominant season.

Yorkville Christian guard Jayden Riley is enjoying a breakout summer, with up to six scholarship offers after his performances at Riverside-Brookfield and Romeoville. Riley, last year's Record Newspapers Player of the Year, has set lofty goals for his senior season.

Jeremy Fears Jr., a Joliet West alum and current Michigan State basketball star, threw out the ceremonial first pitch Friday at the Chicago White Sox game against the San Francisco Giants. Fears is a part of local NIL initiative funded by the White Sox.

Here is a look back at the top boys basketball players in the Sauk Valley area for the 2024-25 season.

As an encore to a stellar junior season when he scored more points than any Dixon player, Darius Harrington obliterated his own scoring record on his way to taking over the top spot on the Dukes’ all-time scoring list. He is the 2024-25 SVM Player of the Year.

Jeremiah Fears, who spent the first two years of his high school career playing for Joliet West, was a star for Oklahoma last year and will now play alongside Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy. Fears was selected seventh overall in Wednesday's NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Sycamore boys basketball team took on Marmion Friday in the DeKalb Live summer tournament at DeKalb High School.

The DeKalb boys basketball team took on Streamwood Friday in the DeKalb Live summer boys basketball tournament at the high school.

The 32-team Morris Boys Shootout, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, has been canceled due to the expected heat

Rick Peterson resigned as boys basketball coach at Marian Central after one season and was officially named the Alden-Hebron coach this week. Peterson previously coached the Giants for three years.

The IHSA on Tuesday announced that the boys and girls basketball state tournaments will change their format, reverting to a similar schedule used when the single-weekend format was introduced in 2022 until 2024.

Reed-Custer High School was the site of the Braidwood Shootout on Wednesday and Thursday, where 32 teams faced off for a little summer basketball action.

After back-to-back 20-win seasons, the Indian Creek boys basketball team is ready to push things to the next level. Whether that’s a regional title, a Little 10 championship or more, the players know the groundwork starts in the summer.

Hinckley-Big Rock will return most of its rotation next season, losing only two starters from last year Little 10 and regional champion squad to graduation. Those two players combined to average 38.4 points, 16.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.

Bishop McNamara’s Trinity Davis, Kankakee’s TaLeah Turner, Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Nick Allen, Watseka’s Megan Martin and Reed-Custer’s Jacob Reardon all participated in the IBCA All-Star Games on Pontiac in Saturday.

The Hinckley-Big Rock and Indian Creek boys basketball teams met Monday night in a summer basketball matchup.

The Hiawatha boys basketball team is coming of its winningest season since 2003-04. The Hawks are hoping to build off their 10 wins and change the program's reputation led by double-double machine Aidan Cooper.

Former McHenry boys basketball coach Tim Paddock has been named the new coach at Woodstock North. He has not coached since stepping down at McHenry in 2017.

ESPN on Monday releases a revised projection for the 2025 NBA Draft, now forecasting Joliet native Jeremiah Fears as a top-five selection

Wheaton North's volleyball team won a three-set thriller over Prospect to take the Fremd Invite title on Saturday.

Benet senior guard Blake Fagbemi, who helped lead the Redwings to the first state championship in school history in March, announced on Wednesday that he will continue his playing career at Illinois.

Peyton Wyatt, previously the associate head coach of the Elmhurst University men’s basketball team, has been named the new head boys basketball coach at Timothy Christian.

Jimmy Roberts was already a longtime teacher and basketball coach at Algonquin's Jacobs High School when he decided to take on a new role, as girls flag football coach for the newly formed team.

Lincoln-Way East's Rich Kolimas taught English and coached the boys basketball team for 23 years. Now, he's putting away the playbook while leaving the door open for future opportunities in the classroom

After leading the Putnam County girls basketball program for 10 years, Jared Sale is taking over the PC boys program.

Eastland's Adam Awender was named MVP of the boys game after scoring 33 points at the Jim Shaw All-Star Classic on Sunday. Morrison's Camryn Veltrop scored 20 points in the girls game.

Seneca High School on Monday announced the hiring of Nathaniel Meiss as the Fighting Irish's next head varsity boys basketball coach.

Luke Yaklich was the head coach at Joliet West from 2007-2013 before heading to the collegiate level. After four years as the head coach at UIC, Yaklich is now returning to the high school level as the coach for Lincoln-Way East.

Four Times-area girls basketball coaches, including Ottawa High School's Brent Moore and Seneca High School's Josh Myers, were recently recognized as Illinois Basketball Coaches Association District 12 Coaches of the Year.

Former Forreston standout athlete Robert DeVries was recently named the Cardinals' next boys basketball coach. DeVries is a 2015 graduate who helped the basketball and football teams earn state trophies.

Five area basketball coaches were named IBCA Coaches of the Year, including Rock Falls' Zach Sandrock and Eastland's Tyler Zumdahl. Sterling's Taylor Jackson, Dixon's Luke Ravlin and Amboy's Mike McCracken were recognized on the girls' side.

The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association announced its Coaches of the Year Thursday, including 12 local junior high, high school and college coaches.

Davion Thompson was the Herald-News Boys Basketball Player of the Year this season. Now, he's leaving Bolingbrook for a top basketball academy out of Branson, Missouri, Link Academy.

The York boys water polo team took second place at New Trier at the 27th annual Best of the West boys water polo tournament.

Lincoln-Way East High School announced late Friday morning the hiring of former University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) head men's basketball coach Luke Yaklich as the next head coach of the Griffins.

Christian Laettner, who led Duke to national championships in 1991 and 1992 and went on to a 13-year NBA career, will be hosting a basketball skills camp on Saturday at Yorkville Christian High School.

Seneca head boys basketball coach Russ Witte announced late last week he'll be retiring from coaching to spend more time with his family.

Area basketball players compete in the boys’s game of McHenry County Area All-Star Basketball Extravaganza on Sunday, April 13, 2025, at Alden-Hebron’s Tigard Gymnasium in Hebron.

Longtime Seneca head boys basketball coach Russ Witte announced Thursday he'll be retiring from coaching after recording 284 wins at Seneca and over 300 in his career.

Colin Baikie moved from the back row to the front row and led Lincoln-Way West with seven kills in a 25-18, 25-19 win over Providence Catholic.

Dixon's Darius Harrington, Rock Falls' Kuitim Heald, and Eastland's Adam Awender and Parker Krogman all were named to the Illinois Media All-State boys basketball team in their respective classes this week.

Lemont junior Gabe Sularski, who led his team to a sectional final in his first year at the school, was named Class 3A First Team All-State by Illinois Media in voting released this week.

Yorkville Christian junior guard Jayden Riley was named Class 1A First Team All-State by Illinois Media in voting released this week.

Bradley-Bourbonnais senior Nick Allen and Kankakee junior Lincoln Williams made the Illinois Media All-State first teams in their respective classes while four players earned honorable mention.

West Aurora boys volleyball defeated Naperville North 19-25, 25-22, 15-12 to claim the title of West Aurora's own invitational Saturday.

Jeremiah Fears was a star for Joliet West before transferring out of state his senior year. After one year at Oklahoma, he now projects as the number seven prospect in the draft, according to ESPN. On Wednesday he declared his intentions to enter the draft.