Congrats to my college drinking buddy TK for leading his alma mater Gordon Tech to it's first ever state championship. They named the court at G Tech after Tommy, might as well lead them to a title!

Watched the game on TV. Haven't seen Tommy in almost 20 years and holy crap did he age. Can barely recognize him.


Great guy, was a great player back in the day who used to go toe to toe with Penny Hardaway in many battles. Lot of fun to hang out with, always up for a party. Didn't make it in the NBA, but was a cult hero legend in Japan where he had a nice pro career before coming back home.

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He was a very good player.

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You know me like that.

I coached his niece in AAU.

Good guy, who never once questioned my coaching acumen.

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He was a great high school player. His Gordon Tech team was a great team. If not for King he would have won state as a player too. That is when you had to be very good to be good in Chicago as a player.

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Sadly reminds me of when DePaul still got talented city kids

Similar player to Aguirre. Not as good, of course. But the kind of guy who refused to let his teams lose. It took everything that loaded King team had to beat him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8pCcWqhZtk&t=873s

This team he has now is loaded. They have a chance to repeat as State Champs, though I think they'll have to move up to 3A next year. If nobody transfers they may go undefeated in the 24-25 season. The best player in the program is a freshman this year and the Walls kid who transferred in from Kenwood is an absolute stud who didn't get much time after Kamin came back.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

I played against the King team that beat Gordon Tech downstate. Probably the best High School Team in IHSA history. They were that good.

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Coach O has been gone as head coach for a long time. I saw him recently at a regional game, and he still looks good.

There is a great camraderie amongst the the old GT coaches. They still get together every summer for a BBQ with old players and yuck it up.

Winecki was such an idiot.

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I got the chance to see them play in early February when they travelled to Benton Harbor for the Wilson Chandler Invitational. Prep had to play against North Farmington, the number 1 ranked team in Division 1, (1330 enrollment) and were over-matched. They had some good players and continued to work to the end, but lost by about 20. I should have tracked down Coach K and asked him about his drinkin' buddy Shakes!

there is a better one out there from his york days but its funny the camera caught him picking his nose and someone cared enough to put it on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwJDTsAcR0k

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The legend of that King team grows every year.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Nah they went undefeated and were No. 1 in the country. They were the business. They could have beat a lot of D1 teams. I haven't seen all or most of the celebrated teams in Illinois but I can't remember any of them that were reputed to be No. 1 in the country.

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no surprise there. Tommy was a real player who gets it. 99% of real players end up becoming very good sports fathers who know how to act at their kid's games. It's never those guys who give the coach problems. It's the idiots who never played a minute of competitive sports at any elevated level, those are the morons who get on their kids' coaches.

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saw an article that listed the top 75 teams in high school history nationwide. They had that King team 4th in Illinois history behind only 90-91 Proviso East, 71-72 Thornridge and 94-95 Farrugut.

Right behind King is Rose's Simeon team and the great Peoria Manual team of the mid 90s.

Did Farrugut even win the title that year?

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I don't think they even got to the state championship.

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They got bounced in the quarterfinals by the Thornton team with Tai Streets.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

I think Proviso East was better.

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I don't think even Thornridge could have beaten a lot of D1 teams.

But there have been a lot of great high school teams in Illinois. Hirsch with John Robinson and Rickey Green. The Gordon Tech team with Lee Arthur Scott that wasn't eligible for the state playoffs that some people thought could have beaten Buckner's team. You could go back to the Taylorville team with Bontemps and Orr. Evanston in '68 with Bob Lackey. The Benji Simmons team. There are a lot of them.

I couldn't say that King team was the best. They were the biggest and deepest, no doubt. Pretty sure Mike Irvin was even on that squad.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Yeah that was a great team. At the time I thought Finley was the least talented of Ford, Boyce and him. And he may have been but I think the others struggled academically.

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Mulli is Howard Stern in his prime compared to Haugh.

They had their chance but they got bounced in 90. Can't remember who bounced them however. They were a great team in 91 though.

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It would definitely be an argument with any of those teams listed above. Can't go wrong with any of them.
The Farragut team with Ronnie Field's and Garnett came along in 94 and 95 but they won neither city or state that year if memory serves correct. It was tough back then. Even with great talent.

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Shakes were you at Depaul with my guy Belefia Parks. Aka "Lieutenant"? That Crazy Mfer. He played on the same Depaul team as Kleinschmidt back then.

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They did win the Public League Supersectional in '95. That's how they ended up losing to Thornton.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

I was away at school and couldn't remember. Yeah you're right. back then you had to win city in order to go downstate. I just remember them losing to Thornton.

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I think they may have beaten Carver.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

With Nick Irvin? I think you're right. That Farragut team was loaded. I didn't get to see Garnett play that year in high school but I watched him in the Pro Am at De La Salle that summer after he turned pro. It was a who's who of Chicago talent. Both High School, College and Pro. Saw him destroy a Pete Myers after being fresh out of high school. It was obvious he should have turned pro.

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i think not.

Coolidge was too much for Garnett to handle. He would have been a great NBA player if he hadn't gotten hurt and been forced to take a job a an orderly at St. Eligius Hospital.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

This thread is bringing back some great memories of when I would go to the state tournament with my Dad. He was a U of I grad and we always had to stop at his old watering holes.

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Bringing back great memories of Proviso West holiday tournaments here.