Notable Medalists in IHSA Sponsored State Series
- Derrick Rose (Simeon HS) Won back-to-back Class AA basketball state championships in 2006 and 2007. Played at Memphis University for one year. Drafted first overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by his hometown Chicago Bulls. Became the youngest player ever to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 2011.
- Lou Boudreau (Thornton HS) • announcer and Hall-of-Fame baseball player • led his high school basketball team to 1933 state title and to second place in 1934 and 1935. He was named to the IHSA's 100 Legends list honoring a century of high school basketball.
- Jim Brewer (Proviso East HS) • basketball player and coach • led his team to the 1969 state basketball title before playing for the 1972 Olympic team, and playing and coaching in the NBA.
- Quinn Buckner (Thornridge HS) • basketball player, coach, announcer • led his basketball team to state titles in 1971 and 1972. Played for gold medal 1976 Olympic team after being a part of the 1976 undefeated Indiana team that won the NCAA championship. Later played, coached, and announced in the NBA.
- Dave Butz (Maine South HS) • professional football player • won 1968 state championship in the discus.
- Bart Conner (Niles West HS) • Olympic gymnast • medaled 13 times between 1973 and 1975, including three State Titles on the parallel bars, and two All-Around State Titles.
- Jimmy Connors (Assumption HS, East St. Louis) • international tennis star • placed fifth at the 1967 State Tennis Championship Tournament.
- Roger Ebert (Urbana HS) • film critic • won 1958 state title in radio speaking (Individual Events).
- Neil Flynn (Waukegan East HS) • actor • won 1978 state title in humorous duet acting (Individual Events).
- Red Grange (Wheaton HS) • professional football player • medaled seven times in Track & Field (1920–22) including state championships in the high jump, 100 yard dash, long jump, and 220 yard dash.
- Dawn Harper (East St. Louis Senior HS) • Olympic gold medalist • swept both hurdling events as a high school junior (2000–01) and senior (01–02). Her 2001 time in the 100 m high hurdles remains a state record for girls as of 2008.
- Dennis Hastert • Congressman and 59th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives • Head Wrestling Coach for Yorkville HS who won the 1976 Class A State Wrestling Championship.
- Edwin Hubble (Wheaton HS) • astronomer • won 1906 state championship in the high jump.
- Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Lincoln HS, East St. Louis) • Olympic athlete • won five medals from 1978 to 1980, including individual state championships in the 440 yard dash, and long jump (twice).
- Ralph Metcalfe (Tilden HS) • Olympic athlete and politician • won seven medals from 1927 to 1930.
- Candace Parker (Naperville Central HS) • basketball player • led her basketball team to 2003 and 2004 state titles, winning several national awards. She later played for University of Tennessee before joining the WNBA, becoming their first Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.
- Jon Scheyer (Glenbrook North HS) • basketball player • led his high school basketball team to third place (2003) and a state title (2005), before play at Duke University. He was the youngest member of the IHSA's 100 Legends list honoring a century of high school basketball.
- Jack Sikma (St. Anne HS) • basketball player & coach • led his basketball team to a fourth place finish in Class A before playing and coaching in the NBA.
- Isiah Thomas (St. Joseph HS) • basketball player, coach, executive • led his basketball team to second place in 1978.
Read more about this topic: Illinois High School Association
Famous quotes containing the words notable, sponsored, state and/or series:
“Every notable advance in technique or organization has to be paid for, and in most cases the debit is more or less equivalent to the credit. Except of course when it’s more than equivalent, as it has been with universal education, for example, or wireless, or these damned aeroplanes. In which case, of course, your progress is a step backwards and downwards.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“Mead had studied for the ministry, but had lost his faith and took great delight in blasphemy. Capt. Charles H. Frady, pioneer missionary, held a meeting here and brought Mead back into the fold. He then became so devout that, one Sunday, when he happened upon a swimming party, he shot at the people in the river, and threatened to kill anyone he again caught desecrating the Sabbath.”
—For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)