It's WAND's "All-Time 5"! Which local high school has the best all-time, all-star lineup of basketball players from any era, together on one court in a tournament of 33 teams? Tune in every Wednesday at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. through March 18 as Gordon Voit announces a new group of seeds in the bracket!
53 pages. 12,000 words (and counting). Countless conversations, messages, box scores, All-State lists and school records. Now that Gordon Voit's research packet has been compiled, we begin the fun.
NUMBER 22: CLINTON MAROONS
(6) Clinton vs. (3) TBA
G - Ryan Schumacher (Missouri Western), 1st points 1,676, 1st Team All-State 1996, 3rd Team All-State as junior 1995
G - Bill McKeown (Illinois) 6-2, 1st Team All-State AP 1961, 11 ppg senior year UI, Single-season scoring record 1960-61 832 pts
SF - Nate Sams (Memphis baseball) 6-2, IBCA All-State Special Mention, 3rd points 1,347; 4 regional championships; Class of 1996
SF - Gene Vance (Illinois Whiz Kids, NBA) 6-3, 2x All-American UI, Illini All-Century Team, 1st Team All-State AP 1940 (one team)
F - Larry Gentry (Northern Illinois) 6-4, NIU HOF, 16-11; NIU All-Time Leading Scorer at time; Class of 1956
Bench
F – Ben Nichols – 2nd all-time points, 1st all-time rebounds, 3x All-Conference
Clyde Alwood (Illinois) CHS C/O 1913! Started on 1914-15 Big Ten title team; 5.9 ppg
G - Jerry Riva (Illinois) 5-11; 1 year Illinois, 1,230 points 6th, Class of 1956
G - Larry Miller (Eastern Illinois) 1st Team All-Conference at EIU, CHS Class of 1962; 46 points vs. Lewis
SF - Kameron Bell (Eureka) 2006 CHS, 21 ppg senior EC (3rd best points in season)
John Kent (HM All-State AP 1940)
Allen Lovell (HM All-State AP 1941)
F - Dexter Peterson (Elmhurst), 1,115 pts, 3rd rebs 589, 1st steals, 4th team IBCA 2003, 2001 regional champs; Class of 2003
Charlie Davenport (SEMO) CHS Class of 1965, 7th best points season
Don Wilson, 4th 1,322 points, 2x All-Conference; Class of 1967
Steve Helm, 1,173 points, 2x All-Conference
PG – Tyler Rogers, Top 2 assists seasons (213, 154), 1990s
PF – Peyton McCubbin (MacMurray) 7th scoring, 2nd rebounds
Tom Steward (Illinois Wesleyan) CHS Class of 1961
SF – Aaron Ennis (Millikin) 6-2, 1,110 pts
PF - Seth Westfall, 4th all-time rebounds
PG - Austin Baker (Millikin) 678 pts, 280 ast, 168 stl, All-CIC 2x
Mike Fleming 4th best points season
John Luttrell (Millikin) Millikin HOF, CHS Class of 1949
Harold Covey (Illinois State) 1 varsity letter
Kyle Madix (Blackburn)
SG - Scott Karr, 1,301; Class of 2000
G - Jacob Overton, 5-8, 1,170 points, 4x All-Conference
F - Rich Peterson, 6-5, reached Super-Sectional, All-Conference; Class of 1987
G - Troy Willoughby (Kaskaskia baseball) 6-0, reached Super-Sectional, All-Conference, held assists record for a time; Class of 1987
(Did we miss a player? Email gordon.voit@wandtv.com so we can update the roster! Thanks for your help in making this special project complete. If you submit a name for consideration, please remember to include height, position, graduation year, college destination as well as a list of accolades. Please remember that this is a fun hypothetical basketball project.)
Overview: Surprise! For those that aren't familiar with basketball history, the Maroons as a No. 6 seed will raise eyebrows. The Maroons have a long history of sending players to Illinois, from GOAT Gene Vance in the 1940s to 1960s star Bill McKeown to bench players Jerry Riva (Class of 1956) and even as far back as Clyde Alwood and his Big Ten championship days. (Shout-out to the Class of 1913!)
Upside of roster: Big Ten talent, plain and simple. Vance is among the better centerpieces of any roster. Four years in the NBA, even during its fledgling days, is a major feather in any team's cap. Schumacher and Sams won seven regionals between them and were both on All-State lists. Gentry is another player from way back who has serious credentials: Northern Illinois' Hall of Fame after averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds a game for the Huskies. It's not a big roster but just a lot of sturdy, accomplished pieces with a strong bench to back it up.
Downside of roster: Size and the historical skew. Players in 2020 are bigger, faster, stronger. Does that mean you write off players from 70 years ago? No, you have to balance those two things. You have to balance 1) honoring accolades within the context of their era and 2) the increased ability and size of today's players. With that said, most of these players are 6-4 and under so there's the reality of having to face 7-footers. It will be an issue.
Highlights of bench: Very interesting bench! Lot of fun to dig through the decades to find players like Class of 1962 guard Larry Miller (Eastern Illinois), who will be the "microwave" of this team. He once put up 46 points in a game against Lewis. Kameron Bell (Eureka) from the Class of 2006 can fill a similar role. He put up 21 poinst a game for the Blue Jays as a senior. Dexter Peterson was an IBCA All-Stater in 2003, Peyton McCubbin was a fun player for me to cover on the Friday Frenzy, Maroa-Forsyth coach Aaron Ennis (Millikin) could ball and you also have historical All-State guys like Allen Lovell (1941) and John Kent (1940) who you have to honor. Did I mention Clyde Alwood (Illinois) is holding it down for the Class of 1913? (110-year class reunion is coming up!) John Luttrell, Class of 1949, was a Millikin Hall of Famer. I mean pick any name on this list! Too many to mention.
Best season: Records at Clinton date back to 1909-10 (!) I mean, that's incredible. The head coach? "Dr. M.E. Stewart". The record? 3-11. Surprisingly, despite all the program's history it hasn't made State since 1917-18 when it lost in the "First Round" which fed into a final eight teams. Final score? Lawrenceville 23, Clinton 18. The most recent major achievements are sectional titles in 1960-61 and 1986-87.
Enrollment: 594 (2020)
GOAT: Gene Vance. Next question. Played for three teams in the NBA, two-time All-American and member of the Illini All-Century Team whose jersey is in the rafters at the now-State Farm Center.
Music: 1940s. Gotta celebrate the great history of this program.
Controversial decision: Do you go based off of pure high school numbers? College accolades? How do you balance a Big Ten player in 1942 with a present-day player who went Division-III but might be the better player if they went head-to-head? All considerations I made when choosing this roster. Gentry and Sams are strong players but there are about 20 names you could argue your way next to the Big 3 of Vance, McKeown and Schumacher who is the all-time leading scorer.
Bonus: Aside from my two Alwood mentions (1913!) I would like to point out that in 2000 Nate Sams outhit a younger member of his Memphis Tigers baseball team, who would lead the team in hitting the very next year. That player's name? "Daniel Uggla" as the media guide lists him as. Three MLB All-Star Games and a Silver Slugger later, that's pretty cool to reflect on.
ALL-TIME 5 OVERVIEW
WHAT: A competition to see who has the best all-time all-star squad of any high school basketball program in the 217 area code.
WHEN: February 5 - March 18 (Phase 1)
March 18 until the NCAA Final Four in April (Phase 2)
HOW: Gordon Voit will release four more teams every single Wednesday night, two during the 6 p.m. show and two during the 10 p.m. show. This is Phase 1. Phase 2 consists of a bracket challenge pitting the teams against each other in a simulated tournament.
RELEASING THE TEAMS
February 5: The 8 seeds
No. 33: Mt. Pulaski (Play-in game)
No. 32: Okaw Valley (Bethany-Findlay) (Play-in game)
February 12: The 7 seeds
February 19: The 6 seeds
No. 22: Clinton
No. 21: Unity
February 26: The 5 seeds
No. 20: TBA
No. 19: TBA
No. 18: TBA
No. 17: TBA
