Roundtable Questions for Chicago Area High School basketball 2025-2026. season and beyond!!!!

Here we some burning questions for the season:

GAME OF THE YEAR:

#3 Warren Township (Gurnee) vs #2 Benet Academy (Lisle) at When Sides Collide at Benet Academy (Lisle) January 24th, 2026:

Last game of an always great set of matchups. Rematch of last years state title game that went down to the wire. Benet won 55-54 as Mr Basketball Jaxson Davis slipped attacking the rim at the last second for possible winning basket. Warren has Davis (a junior), along with senior longtime running mate Braylon Walker, and senior Joel Paasch stepping into a wing spot as a knockdown three point shooter. Senior forward Avonn King will be big on the interior battling the tall timber that Benet has. Benet has two division one players in long range shooting point guard Jaylen Wright (Eastern Illinois) and 7'1" center Colin Stack (North Dakota State). Stack teams with junior Edvardas Stasys (6'8") to give nice size for the Redwings. Senior transfer from Australia Ethan Macdermott is a do everything versatile guard who could swing the pendulum to Benet as will homecourt advantage.

MOST UNDERATED TEAMS:

These teams just missed the Top 25. Wheaton Academy (West Chicago), Rich Township (Richton Park), Brother Rice (Chicago), West Aurora, St Viator (Arlington Heights), Perspectives Leadership (Chicago), and Wendell Phillips Academy (Chicago).

PLAYERS JUST OUTSIDE BIG TIM'S TOP 50 RANKINGS:

Amari Williams, Shepard (Palos Heights) (2028)

Thaddeaus "TJ" Williams, Bolingbrook

Kaydin Williams, Simeon Career Academy (Chicago)

Charlie Pomis, Hersey (Arlington Heights)

Kain Kretschmar, Lake Zurich

TOP FIVE PLAYERS OUTSIDE CHICAGO AREA IN EACH CLASS:

CLASS OF 2026 (has six):

Jamison White, East St Louis

Cooper Knowles, West Hancock

Sean Lee, MacArthur (Decatur)

Amir Danforth, Auburn (Rockford)

Ben Akoro, O'Fallon Township

Semaj Stampley, Alton

CLASS OF 2027:

Quinton Kitt, East Peoria

J'Dyn Lloyd, West (Belleville)

Keshuan Manney, Central Catholic (Bloomington)

Cole Dubois, East Peoria

Deven Marshall, Rock Island

CLASS OF 2028:

Amarion Smith-Holley, Richwoods (Peoria)

Amir Beasley, Danville

Chase Kasten, Normal Community

Kayden Turner, Peoria

Jacob "JJ" Duffin, Peoria

Honorable mention (players I have not seen but have good reputations amongst fellow scouts):

Archie Goeway, Centralia

Ryder Wettig, Trico

Top 5 incoming freshman (CLASS OF 2029) in the state plus one:

Jalonny Billingsley, Simeon Career Academy (Chicago)

Dakylen "DK" Heard, Mount Carmel (Chicago)

Keiwon Gulley, Bloom Township (Chicago Heights)

Dakari Nesbitt, Thornton Township (Harvey)

Denym Wallace, New Trier (Winnetka)

Isaac Smith IV, Chi Prep Academy (Chicago) (doesn't play IHSA schedule, plays on Grind Session a national prep school league)

TOP SLEEPERS IN THE STATE CLASS OF 2026 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED:

Adam Anwar, McHenry

Cedrick Carter, Intrinsic School (Chicago)

Arnez Jones, North Lawndale College Prep (Chicago)

Maurice Thompson, Zion Benton (2027)

Sean Lee, MacArthur (Decatur)

Tishawn Clemmons, MacArthur (Decatur)

Ahmad Lee, Lincoln Park (Chicago)

J'Dyn Lloyd, West (Belleville)

Torey Baskin, Hoffman Estates

Adam Flowers, South (Downers Grove)

Matt Szafoni, Lane Tech College Prep (Chicago)

Collin Tobin, Niles North (Skokie) (2027)

BIG TIM'S STATE TITLE PICKS FOR CLASS 1A-4A: I went 2 for 4 last season getting 3A and 4A correct. 1A and 2A are tough for me as I don't know as much about downstate teams but am trying to learn more by the day.

CLASS 1A: St Francis De Sales (Chicago): Team has a ton of talent. I was at their open gym so here was my synopsis of the team: https://tim1coleman.wixsite.com/website/post/open-gym-runs-st-francis-de-sales-chicago.

CLASS 2A: Hope Academy (Chicago): Moving up from 1A where they won the title. Senior point guard Tyjuan Hunter is tiny (5'7"), but has state finals experience from the last two years and is a great leader and floor general.

CLASS 3A: MacArthur (Decatur): East St Louis has the best senior in the state, Kankakee has exerienced players but team has never been to state finals. Sean Lee, Tishawn Clemons and the crew played well together in the summer. I think they take it into the season, but might have a gigantic matchup with East St Louis in sectional play.

CLASS 4A: Benet Academy (Lisle): I'm picking them for the second year in a row. This class is loaded with three time state champion DePaul College Prep (Chicago), Marist (Chicago), and Warren Township (Gurnee). I think Benet has the inside force and outside shooting to get it done and repeat.

IS CHICAGO PUBLIC LEAGUE DOMINANCE IN CLASS 4A GONE?:

They haven't won a title in this class since 2018 (Whitney Young). Last time in the state finals was 2022 (Whitney Young). Not looking too good to bring one home to the city this year. Best hopes are Curie (Chicago) and Lincoln Park (Chicago). I will add it is tough to win City and State in the same year. The emotions of winning city, then getting back up for state playoffs is tough for high school players. Other factor is the powerhouse city teams are stuck in the same sectionals, and have fed into the supersectional with a South Suburb powerhouse. t will be interesting to see how the sectional pairings play out? They come out in early December and this is the year the IHSA is supposed to shift everything around.

CLASS 4A IS THE STRONGEST IT'S BEEN IN AWHILE:

A bunch of Chicago Catholic League powerhouses moved up from Class 3A. Perennial champ DePaul College Prep (Chicago), Brother Rice (Chicago), St Laurence (Burbank), Mount Carmel (Chicago) have all moved up one class. It was either by multiplier, success formula, or both. It weakened Class 3A, but could produce a lot of early upsets in the playoffs in Class 4A. Will be interesting to watch.