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A handful of prep sports hopes for the new year

As mentioned last year in this space, New Year’s resolutions and I don’t get along.

When it comes to the area’s prep sports scene, though, I have plenty of hopes for 2025. Some may sound similar to last year’s, but that’s only because they didn’t come to fruition in 2024.

This week’s High Five offers a handful of hopes for the coming year.

5. Still waiting …

The area is still in a drought when it comes to prep basketball state titles. On the boys side, only two teams have won championships since the IHSA shifted to four classes, Stevenson and Jalen Brunson in 2015 and Glenbard West in 2022 with one of the most dominant performances in state history.

The drought on the girls side is a little more bizarre. Two years may not seem like a drought, but around here it kind of is. Before the 2022-23 school year, a local team won a state title in eight straight seasons and 12 of the 14 years of four-class basketball.

4. Private time

I realize there won’t be a solution in 2025 to the public school vs. private school debate.

But hopefully there’s some significant movement that doesn’t include separating the two in different IHSA state series. I don’t think that benefits anyone.

While I’d like to see more competitive balance, a separation simply dilutes both products. No one wants to see that.

What’s the solution? I honestly don’t have one to satisfy everyone. I’m not even sure one exists.

3. Planting seeds

If we’re talking fixes for the playoff football system, there’s a pretty simple place to start. Seed all the classes from 1 to 32 instead of creating separate brackets based on geography.

The IHSA used to rely on straight seeding but shifted to the regional system shortly after expanding to eight classes in the 2000 season. While regional representation is a noble goal of the IHSA, it’s not the ideal setup from a competitive standpoint.

Let the cream rise to the top through a statewide bracket.

2. A proposal

There are so many bright minds when it comes to IHSA sports. Lock them in a room and let them figure out the perfect system for the football playoffs.

OK, maybe that’s a little extreme. But for years we’ve seen splintered and competing efforts to change the system, and ideas were doomed because of a lack of consensus.

It’s time to get everyone on the same page. Or at least in the same book.

Want to separate public and private schools? Want to contract from eight classes to six? Come on in.

Are you a proponent of playoff districts and dissolving traditional conferences? Want to let everyone in the playoffs and shorten the regular season? We want to hear from you.

From this momentous gathering, a proposal will emerge and placed on the annual membership ballot. Because a consensus was reached beforehand, it’ll pass in a landslide and we’ll have the perfect system.

I can dream, can’t I?

1. And finally

On behalf of the entire Daily Herald sports team, we wish you and yours the safest and healthiest of times in 2025.

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