Seeding meetings morph into virtual reality

In perhaps a sign of the times, the IHSA basketball seeding meetings are going green - and virtual.

This year, for the first time in history, the process of seeding teams for the boys basketball state tournament will be conducted virtually, right down to the coaches' meetings.

In the past, coaches from around the state would meet at their respective sectional complexes on a weekday night in early February. There, often over pizza and other goodies, they would talk with the each other and make a case for where they felt their own teams should be seeded in the sectional.

Then, each coach would cast a ballot that would rank the teams from top to bottom. That information would be used by the IHSA to ultimately determine the seeds and pairings.

This year, there will be no pizza, unless a coach happens to be eating a slice while he's sitting at his computer. All seeding will be done online.

"I'm not going to miss it," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said of the phased-out meetings. "I've always pretty much known before the meeting where I was going to seed most teams anyway, based on the research and homework I had already done."

Coaches were required to have all of their team information, as well as their personal rankings, e-mailed to the IHSA by Thursday. Pairings are due out by the end of the day Friday.

"I always enjoyed being around the other coaches," Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. "The meetings were always fairly pleasant. It was a good thing."

The bad thing, of course, was the inconvenience of finding a night in which no team was playing and all coaches were available.

Travel and the loss of yet another night of family time for coaches who already spend many nights coaching or scouting were also seen as drawbacks to the in-person meetings.

For example, in Class 3A, where the teams are more spread out, travel can be a major issue. In the North Chicago sectional, there are eight teams from Chicago plus Fenton and Ridgewood, which are located near O'Hare.

Last year, those coaches were asked to travel to Antioch for a sectional seeding meeting.

"I guess it's kind of nice to come into the 21st century," said Grayslake Central coach Brian Moe, who is hosting a Class 3A regional. "And you don't have to have coaches gallivanting all over Illinois during the middle of the season just to get to a seeding meeting."

That being said, most coaches agree that there was some value to in-person seeding meetings. And it wasn't just the pizza.

Ramsey alluded to an accountability factor that would be present at an actual meeting but may be absent from an online vote.

"Every year, coaches are also required to go to a rules meeting in October and this year, the IHSA did that online and I thought that was good," Ramsey said. "If you're looking to cut down on travel and fuel, that was a good step.

"But doing this (seeding meeting) online also? I'm not so sure. I'm keeping an open mind about it, but I think this could change the way people do things. When it comes time to write your numbers down, it might be easier to give someone a lesser seed if you don't have to sit there next to them in the same room."

Homecourt disadvantage: Senior night is supposed to give seniors that chance to play one last game on their homecourt or home field.

Here's the problem with senior night this year at Lakes High School.

It won't be at Lakes High School.

Due to a moisture problem in the gym that has caused a significant amount of warping and mold growth, the main and auxiliary gyms at Lakes High School have been on lockdown for the last week or so.

No one but workers has been allowed inside, which means that the Lakes basketball teams are technically homeless.

Friday's boys varsity game against Vernon Hills, which was originally a home game and is earmarked as senior night, will be played at Antioch High School instead.

The Eagles are also practicing at Antioch.

"There was no water break, no pipe breaks. We don't know what caused this or when it might be resolved, but we're planning as if we'll never get back into our gym again this season," said Lakes coach Brian Phelan.

"It's too bad for the seniors that they don't get one last game there. But my assistant coach jokes that every season needs some hiccups, something out of the ordinary to keep you on edge. This fits that."

The one bright side?

Lakes plays sister school Antioch next week and should be real comfortable with the surroundings.

"That will actually be like a home game for us," Phelan said.

Catching up: If Lakes can defeat Vernon Hills on Friday, it will be the first time the team will be at the .500 mark since starting the season 0-6.

Lakes coach Brian Phelan credits the solid play of veterans John Androus (19 ppg) and Chris Boehm for the turnaround but also says that some new blood has given the Eagles a lift.

Phelan recently brought up sophomores Nick Hibbing and Nat McMahon, and the two have brought a new energy to practice.

"It's been nice because the last couple of games, we've been going 10-deep," Phelan said.

"In our three years here, we've never had that deep of a bench. It helps in games, and it helps in practices. Our practices are way more intense. There's a competition now at every position and everyone is playing harder."

That bites: Literally overnight, Vernon Hills went from a team in which no one wore mouth guards to a team on which everyone does.

Witnessing gruesome injuries tends to make us all think more preventively.

Two weeks ago against North Chicago, the Cougars got a little mouthy. Just not with words.

In the first quarter, sophomore guard DaVaris Daniels went after a loose ball and so did a North Chicago player. The two collided, and the North Chicago player landed on top of Daniels, forcing Daniels' face directly into the court.

Daniels' braces were shoved into his gums and blood went everywhere.

But that was just the half of it.

Daniels missed the second and third quarters, but he returned in the fourth quarter.

While going for an offensive rebound, he and teammate Chris Morgan collided. Daniels' elbow hit Morgan's jaw. Hard.

Teeth must have been the theme of the night because Morgan's bottom front four teeth were knocked loose.

"It was a mess," said Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty. "We were concerned at first that Chris' jaw was broken. Then we saw his teeth and they looked like those crazy teeth you wear at Halloween."

Both Daniels and Morgan, who happen to be best of friends, received medical and dental attention after the game.

Daniels had his braces removed and missed a day of school. Morgan was out three days from school and missed two games because doctors had to wire in his teeth to save and stabilize them.

Morgan practiced for the first time a week ago Wednesday and played in a game for the first time last weekend against Round Lake. He scored 9 points.

"When I first saw Chris and his injury, I thought for sure he'd be out for at least three to four weeks," McCarty said. "But he really only missed a week or so and now that he's back, it's like he hasn't missed a beat. He's just a hard-nosed kid.

"It's hard when you lose a tooth. I got a tooth knocked out when I was a sophomore in high school and you're kind of (gun-shy) at first. But Chris has shown no ill effects."

But Morgan isn't a total maverick. He's now wearing a mouth guard, as are the rest of his teammates.

Dental school: After a bad week of mouth injuries, Vernon Hills is hoping to avoid this topic altogether in the future.

The Cougars have taken an important first step.

The day after the North Chicago game, in which DaVaris Daniels and Chris Morgan suffered nasty mouth and teeth injuries, most of the players on the team showed up with brand new mouth guards. None of them had ever worn a mouth guard before but all were suddenly big believers in the benefits.

The parents of senior guard Brian Smith even purchased about a half dozen mouth guards in case someone didn't have one.

"It took awhile for everyone to get used to them," McCarty said. "The breathing is different and everything. But everyone has kept them in.

"Personally, I think this should be an IHSA rule, because these horrible mouth injuries, which can be really expensive to fix, can happen so easily."

Double trouble: Everyone at Grayslake Central knew that Josh Rappaport could shoot and score. He's always been an offensive-minded player.

So when forward Andrew Sipes went down with a season-ending knee injury around Thanksgiving, the Rams figured they'd be able to replace much of his point production with Rappaport taking over his spot.

But as the season has progressed, Grayslake Central has gotten much more than that.

The 6-foot-3 Rappaport has become a defensive presence inside, and he's also starting to rebound like crazy.

He pulled down 10 boards in Central's game against Prairie Ridge last weekend.

"I think he's had double-doubles in the last three or four games," Grayslake Central coach Brian Moe said. "That's huge for us. Our rebounding used to be that no one would get more than 3 or 4 rebounds a game. Josh has really progressed and taken over there. I think he's just getting more and more comfortable in his role and he's just relaxed out there and doing his thing."

Thirty-something: Earlier this season, Antioch guard Cameron White scored a career-high 30 points against Lakes.

On Monday, he erased that mark and set a career high by dropping 36 points on Westosha Central in a 68-59 victory.

Interestingly, White's big games came in totally different ways.

"Against Lakes, it was like everyone just moved out of the way and was like 'Cameron, save us.' He was really having to carry us and the focus was on him," Antioch coach Michael Skinner said. "Against Westosha, his points really came within the context of the game."

To go along with the points, White also had 6 steals and 3 blocks against Westosha. Many of his steals led to easy layups.

"He was doing everything well and he got a lot of points off his defense," Skinner said. "He was just on fire."