It felt like everyone in Downers Grove migrated down to Champaign for the day. The State Farm Center was a sea of purple and everyone was there to cheer on the boys’ basketball team as they continued their historic run. Now, they are preparing to hit the court again.
Last season, the Trojans finished fourth in the state, the best finish in school history. On their journey to the Final Four, the team beat top-ranked teams such as Whitney Young, Hinsdale Central, and Kenwood Academy before falling to Moline in the Semifinals and New Trier in the third-place game.
“We went down there and didn’t get the result we wanted but those results become fleeting at some point,” head coach Jim Thomas said. “That journey was last year’s team’s journey and we’re going to build on it but we aren’t last year’s team.”
Thomas is entering his 17th season as the head coach of the program. Last year, he was named Coach of the Year by the Chicago Sun-Times, an accolade that most coaches dream of winning. His players credit him with being a passionate leader and the ‘heartbeat’ of the team.
“He does a great job preparing us for every opponent we face,” senior Alex Miller said. “His commitment and hard work is what puts us in a place to go out and compete to win every game whether we’re playing a winless team or preparing for a playoff game.”
With all of last year’s success looming over the team, it’s easy to feel the pressure put on them by the school and community to perform. However, the expectations set by others haven’t affected this year’s team.
“That ‘noise’ will always be there, someone will always be talking whether it’s on social media or in the hallways, but everything on the outside is meaningless. We’re focused on the things we can control like the effort we put in, not what is being said about us,” senior Jake Riemer said.
The Trojans are returning four of five starters and are led by senior guard Jack Stanton. Over the summer, Stanton was one of the hottest recruits in the state, amassing over 20 college offers before ultimately committing to Princeton University Aug. 30.
“I’m looking forward to taking the younger guys on a similar journey as last year and hopefully exceeding those expectations of a Final Four,” Stanton said.
The Trojans began last season unranked and were considered the Cinderella story of the playoffs. This year, they’ll start at the top, ranked third by the Sun-Times to begin the season.
“I’d be dishonest if I said they don’t mean anything,” Thomas said. “Being ranked and acknowledged as one of Illinois’s top teams is a special thing but it’s not a measuring tool for us.”
The Trojans will open up the season by hosting a Thanksgiving tournament, taking on Von Steuben for their first game of the season Nov. 20. Thomas and the team are looking forward to another season of excitement and challenge, and with no end goal in mind, the school and community are excited to watch the team progress throughout the season.
“We’re not goal-oriented, we have a set of expectations of how we are going to perform,” Thomas said. “I hope we scheduled competitively so we can go through adversity and find out a little about how tough we are because those are characteristics of great teams.”
