Most and least college players for state champions

[Sparty Jones]

Someone brought up an interesting point on another post that many coaches claim that they won without many D1 or other college players. The point being that even having one D1 or a few college players is actually having a lot.

My alma mater Buffalo Grove’s 1986 champs had at least three D1 scholarship players and at least seven college players, and that was just the seniors. That certainly helped. I wonder which state champs have had the most and the fewest. Perhaps you guys could venture guesses.

 

[moose2753]

My championship winning team sr yr had I believe at least 5 D1 players and at least 6 more then went on to play in college from our senior class.

 

[Wilmatucky]

Obviously D1 prospects is a great measuring stick because you have to be pretty damn good to be looked at, but saying that a team had x amount of college players can be misleading. There was a point in time where Wilmington was having 3-5 kids a year go play at St. Francis in Joliet. Majority of them would quit during or after their first year. USF was pretty horrible at the time and I think they literally took anyone. Even the state winning team of ‘14 sent 5 or maybe 6 to college for football. Only 2 stuck it out. And only one made an impact.

 

[PanthersWildcats86]

How many kids decide on playing a different sport early on in their career and don't get recruited as a result? Manteno early on had a 6'5", 265 lb soph tackle (senior '05-6, so he was a freshman the first year the Panthers played football) who was getting interest & information requests from big schools as a sophomore. Like, coaches were running around with letters from Wisconsin asking for film & info...But the kid was also a pretty good basketball player, ended up averaging like 18 ppg on Manteno's first ever regional championship hoops team in '06 (he had a teammate being recruited by low D1 hoops teams). He was a 3 year starter in football & basketball.

He ended up deciding rather early that he would rather play hoops than football in college, cutting off the football recruiting. He traded the opportunity to redshirt D1 football to play on Olivet Nazarene's freshman basketball team...He ended up a decent player for Olivet, got his degree and actually taught & coached at Manteno for a few years...but because of his body type and athletic skills wasn't going to get any hoops interest any higher than D3 / NAIA.

Wilmo's 2015 all-state wing/lb was also a multi-time all state wrestler, but at 170 lbs was not getting much interest for either - mostly partial wrestling offers. So he went into the Navy...

Bottom line, there's lots of really good athletes playing football who have no future in college football, whether by choice or circumstance...particularly in the smaller classes.

 

[crusader_of_90]

The seniors who graduated and were D1 in 1990 went to Tennesee, Eastern, SEMO and Murray State.

My classmates from 1991 went to Mizzou, Nebraska, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Oklahoma/MLB-draftee, Eastern and SEMO.

So - that's 12 from two years of classes and many others played other sports or were not D1, including a two-time D3 All American and Defensive Player of the Year (once).

That was many years ago, however.

 

[crusader_of_90]

One clarification and a correction.

Players cited my class including one class below - and there was no Eastern my senior year, so only seven D1 guys on that team.

I’d be surprised if that many and as prominent of rides have been given to any Illinois school in such a span. Most of us played in the same tball league when we were five and knew each other by the time we were 10. It was really a genetic lottery. Three Mlb players in a two year little league window and a dozen minor leaguers too.

 

[Falcon86]

Someone brought up an interesting point on another post that many coaches claim that they won without many D1 or other college players. The point being that even having one D1 or a few college players is actually having a lot.

My alma mater Buffalo Grove’s 1986 champs had at least three D1 scholarship players and at least seven college players, and that was just the seniors. That certainly helped. I wonder which state champs have had the most and the fewest. Perhaps you guys could venture guesses.

1981 Wheaton North - 4A Champs

Jim Juriga - OL - Illinois / NFL
Mike Garvey - OL - Wyoming
Louis Holland - RB - Wisconsin
Darryl Richardson - RB - NIU
Dan Graham - QB then OL in College - NIU / NFL - go figure right?
Rick Jordan - DL - Indiana
Rich Morris - OL/C - Ohio State

That seemed like a lot.....and quite a few D3 And Juco guys

 

[greatgig13]

CG’s 2018 championship team had one go D1, OL Addison West.

 

[godfthr53]

Jwar will get back to you but i think the 2014 Naz team had 14 D1 players. Here's the college players I remember

Nolan Dean - NIU
Ivory Kelly Martin - Iowa
Matt Prendergast - Lehigh
Kevin Jackson - Wyoming/ISU
Dex Kelly Martin - ISU
Julian Love - Notre Dame
Cameron Weems - U Indy
Chris Sampleton - Yale
Michael Owens - Army
Dmitri Joe - SXU
Chris Simmons SXU
Devonte Dunn - Toledo
Pat Kilcommons - Dartmouth
John Kilcommons - Dartmouth
Jack Shutack - Rutgers / Colorado
Justin Weller - Penn State

 

[USD24]

JC state championship team I played on in 87 had one player from the defense go to Harvard, and I think one junior O-lineman play D1 at Colorado State. Other than that a bunch of players that played either D3 or at St Francis. A little different than the make up of the more recent JCA state teams.

 

[Oop-dee-oop_4]

How many kids decide on playing a different sport early on in their career and don't get recruited as a result? Manteno early on had a 6'5", 265 lb soph tackle (senior '05-6, so he was a freshman the first year the Panthers played football) who was getting interest & information requests from big schools as a sophomore. Like, coaches were running around with letters from Wisconsin asking for film & info...But the kid was also a pretty good basketball player, ended up averaging like 18 ppg on Manteno's first ever regional championship hoops team in '06 (he had a teammate being recruited by low D1 hoops teams). He was a 3 year starter in football & basketball.

He ended up deciding rather early that he would rather play hoops than football in college, cutting off the football recruiting. He traded the opportunity to redshirt D1 football to play on Olivet Nazarene's freshman basketball team...He ended up a decent player for Olivet, got his degree and actually taught & coached at Manteno for a few years...but because of his body type and athletic skills wasn't going to get any hoops interest any higher than D3 / NAIA.

Wilmo's 2015 all-state wing/lb was also a multi-time all state wrestler, but at 170 lbs was not getting much interest for either - mostly partial wrestling offers. So he went into the Navy...

Bottom line, there's lots of really good athletes playing football who have no future in college football, whether by choice or circumstance...particularly in the smaller classes.

I don't think it has anything to do with other sports and it isn't only in smaller classes. If you are going to be a D1 athlete, you need to have the size and speed. If you don't have those, you won't be D1. D3 is LOADED with players that would be D1 if they were a little bigger or faster.

 

[Oop-dee-oop_4]

This post reminds me...

It would be great if we had stats for IHSA state champs like they do for NFL/NCAA.

You would be able to filter what the most common traits of championship teams are.

X amount of senior returners? X amount of D1 talent? X coach? X amount of points allowed per season? X amount of points scored? What seed were they? Were they the underdog? Pre season ranking? etc...