Need those testing numbers tomorrow. *also projected football class rankings LOL
A Tradition Unlike Any Other
- Thread starter DeanOfSelection
- Start date
A memory unlike any other. I asked Dean if he knew the W-L record for Carmel against another team. He instantly recited the last 25 years off the top of his head.
I’ll break the drama. If current (last 4 years) Southland test day reporting trends continue
MC 220
BR 210
SR 188
SL 800
DLS 700
MC 220
BR 210
SR 188
SL 800
DLS 700
800 and 700?? Those are ridiculous numbers for those 2 my friend. I'd believe 500 SI and 350 DLS. I don't know where they would be drawing in that many students from especially with Marist not Included yet. Unless surely you jest!
Last edited:
He may have stopped for a few with SL and DLS alums.
Yes. Of course. This thread and day, which used to be annual must-see TV a half decade ago, has just become filled with implausible numbers’ reporting.
The last real number publicly reported by any school was Brother Rice’s 177 5 years ago. Every school learned their lesson. No one on this board knows the sealed envelope number hand-delivered by horse and buggy to the Arch Diocese. I only watch the ISBE reporting numbers in September for reality.
With those 2, cut # in half for boys and remember it's basically a Whitney Young backup plan for closer-in SW siders.
I think the one to watch has to be DePaul.... imagine the numbers are going to continue to skyrocket
Absolute truth. I consult Dean when I need info on JC history!
This is a fact for me also when it comes to any Catholic League team’s last 30 years. Cheers to the DOS
St Pats 225
DePaul Prep 550
ND 242
Loyola A lot
St Ignatius always maxed out for enrollment
DePaul Prep 550
ND 242
Loyola A lot
St Ignatius always maxed out for enrollment
Last edited:
I gave you a lay up to say "Yes I am, and don't call me Shirley" and you missed it! 😀
Good to see Rita continue to climb, the Hopkins effect at work! I heard Marist 540 and MMc 265. How did the football classes shape up?
You do realize that test takers does not equal enrollment, right? StL reported 512 test takers to fill 330 spots
Reavis, Argo, Oak Lawn, Kennedy
Athletically it's given girls that knew they weren't going to make the Volleyball team at McAuley or Marist another option. Some can say the same for football that players not wanting to sit on the bench at the traditionally more successful program found better playing opportunities at Laurence. And by being in 4A the last few years they have had successful playoff runs the past couple seasons but I'm not sure if that will carry over to them having continued success in 7A or 6A with them being moved up next season. So all the three South Side male schools MC/BR and SR took a hit but I'm thinking BR took the hardest as they used to get guys that didn't think they would see the field at MC and SR so they went to BR that was a good program but it was built more off local players.
Pretty narrow to liken STL’s success to “kids who can’t make other schools volleyball or football teams.” Freshmen team (using them because class of 2028 has been high watermark for the school) could hang with any CCL team in the area. Volleyball coach is outstanding and took team to 3 straight super sectionals. Baseball and boys soccer are state title contenders year in and year out. Boys track going to be a favorite to win state this year. Girls basketball has a D1 sophomore and the #2 freshman in IL. Boys Basketball has one of the most connected coaches in IL who is going to attract big talent. Softball has won top division of GCAC the last two years. Academically what do DePaul and STL have in common? Both are the only places in town with an IB program for the high level students.
Smart hires and savvy investments make it hard to pinpoint who is hurt the most. Im sure the boys and girls schools would both love to have 250+ more boys and 250+ more girls to choose from, and the way recruiting is now, no matter where they live those kids are in play for the southside schools.
Smart hires and savvy investments make it hard to pinpoint who is hurt the most. Im sure the boys and girls schools would both love to have 250+ more boys and 250+ more girls to choose from, and the way recruiting is now, no matter where they live those kids are in play for the southside schools.
All.... Sacred Heart-Griffin does it a bit different. I know in August a count was taken. Freshman numbers were up at the start of the year. And overall after years of decline enrollment up 10%. I believe this is the second year of the school having lay people in both the president and principal positions. Ratsy
I know it sounds narrow and I don't mean to classify every player on those teams in that category but I've heard it straight from parents and players mouths that they chose to go there because they had a better chance of playing, or in Volleyballs case making the team at all. And thats not a dig on their abilities, but Mother Mac and Marist are nationally ranked programs and before Laurence and DLS went co-ed many of these players were left with no other options but Public School or just playing Travel. So I love that there are more options.
I've heard Laurence had a good freshman football team. What I will say in defense of my statement is they don't play a very difficult schedule. They lost to BR. I don't think they would have beaten MC or LA, I'm not sure if they played SR is a freshman cross over but I'm not sure how that game would have went. I know they would give anyone a game but they played in a lower CCL division and the past few seasons the varsity had been in 4A which has been a easier path, let's see how they do going in 7A.
Baseball they are outstanding. They have had bad luck in the playoffs but they have a well oiled machine over there, Lotus built it up well. I will take your word on track and soccer 😀
Last edited:
They’re getting I imagine the old people who would have gone to Weber,Holy Cross/Guerin,Luther North maybe? Catholic & Lutheran similar
Really nice Campus, Co-Ed Northside option to Loyola thats in the City. Excellent State Champion basketball with a local legend/alum as the coach (Technically a Gordon alum but same thing). Arrow pointing up in Football. I know they won State but to be honest they wouldn't have won in any class higher then 4A, but they are going to keep getting better.
I went to grade school in Elmwood Park and we'd always have a kid or two every few years that would make their way down Addison to Gordon Tech.
I always felt it was a tough sell just due to our location as we were sitting near St. Patrick, Holy Cross, Notre Dame, and Fenwick.
I always felt it was a tough sell just due to our location as we were sitting near St. Patrick, Holy Cross, Notre Dame, and Fenwick.
Was Weber closed already or just had less appeal? Sounds like there were a lot more options closer to where Weber alums might have moved, extending out to Driscoll, Viator and IC.
I graduated grade school in June of 2001, so Weber was closed by then. However I do recall playing AAU basketball at Weber in like 3rd or 4th grade. I'm sure it was an option being that was located near Fullerton and Laramie it could have been a viable option.
Like most Catholic HS closings Weber closed because of changing demographics. Weber got many of their students from the West side and directly East of its location. I lived one block from Pats and 1 1/2 mile from Weber. Only 1 person I know went to Weber. I knew of no one who went to Gordan.
Pats used to get loads of students from the far NW side, Tarcisius, IC and Juliana, those days are gone and most of those kids go to ND. Students from several miles East of Pats, who couldn't get into Ignatius or LA, and might have gone to Pats, now have the choice to go to DePaul.
Pats used to get loads of students from the far NW side, Tarcisius, IC and Juliana, those days are gone and most of those kids go to ND. Students from several miles East of Pats, who couldn't get into Ignatius or LA, and might have gone to Pats, now have the choice to go to DePaul.
DePaul is currently going gangbusters in the LP/Lakeview/North Center parishes. In decades past, most families at St. Josephat, St. Bens, St. Alphonsus, St. Clement, etc. never considered Gordon Tech and it was either (with minimal exceptions) schlep up to Loyola, over to Ignatius, public selective enrollment, or move. Now those parishes are sending 50%+ of their 8th graders to DP. A friend who is a teacher at a public grade school in the area as well says all her 8th graders want to go to Depaul.
What is DePaul doing that Gordon wouldn't/couldn't do to attract all these new students?
Coed, new facility that no longer requires passage through Lanes front door on Addison, and own stadium (not using Lane, Winnemac or North Park). Not sure if credits redeemable at DePaul U are necessarily a sell, but a future DPP to DPU pipeline might re introduce some common sense over there.
DPU was great for one of my girls - prepared her well with clinical work for immediate hire and grad school placement.
Would love to have a city basketball team again!
Would love to have a city basketball team again!
^ I think a lot of the above is correct. Honestly, I think the rebrand is huge as well. "Gordon Tech" was an all-boys technical school in an aging and dated building on California (I realize it was co-ed towards the end). "DePaul Prep" is a growing co-ed prep school in a brand new building on Rockwell (I realize it was in the old building for a while).
That rebrand alone has seemed to go a long way in winning over people who would otherwise have ambitions of sending their kids to Loyola or Ignatius. I get the sense that DP has a more local feel/focus vs Ignatius/Loyola particularly for the LP/Lakeview/North Center/Irving Park families. It's something that exists on the southwest/northwest side but I think was missing in that particular area of the city.
And LP changed dramatically, from lower-middle-class whites to Puerto Ricans to upper-middle-class whites swept in by gentrification. And now they have a shiny new school that reflects the image they have of themselves..
Obviously "Lincoln Park gentrified in the 70s and 80s" is factually accurate, but I'm not sure it's relevant to DP's recent success - all of the dynamics that have made it succeed are rooted way more recently than that.
First of all, the demise of GT is entirely unrelated to gentrification in Lincoln Park (but perhaps not unrelated to demographic changes in North Center and the surrounds) - GT never drew heavily from LP and enrollment tanked well after LP was fully gentrified.
Second, DP is not in Lincoln Park nor does it draw a majority of students from there. LP has been gentrified for 50 years now and most of the parents of DP kids likely have little to no knowledge of that history.
In my opinion, there was a huge unmet demand on the North side broadly (not just LP) for a co-ed Catholic school that was cheaper, more convenient, and less "intense" than Ignatius (and maybe somewhat Loyola). Having a new building is great, but I think the draw is the opposite of a "shiny new school that reflects the image they have of themselves" - It was for a more "normal" private school for the vast majority of families in the area vs the relative "extremes" (can mean cost, distance, rigor/acceptance rate, etc.) of the super fancy non-parochial privates, selective enrollment, Ignatius/Loyola, etc.
I don't think anyone is hurting. Private school numbers seem to be on the rise across the board. I know Rita and MC have had better numbers in recent years too. StL and Depaul just seem to be benefitting the most. Both have gone co-ed, made some major capital improvements, and rebranded themselves in recent years. Similar to the Marist resurgence 15 years or so ago. I think seeing how Covid and other hot button topics have been handled by public school districts has also left a bad taste in some prospective parents' mouths.
