Recently in Boys basketball Category

Word on the street about the recruitment of Beacon-News Boys Basketball Player of the Year Mark Adams?

Aurora University is still in the hunt and would be a good choice for the 6-foot-2 shooting guard who had a banner senior season for coach Nate Drye.

Intriguing, though, is speculation that new Western Illinois University coach Jim Molinari wants Adams to walk on to the team in Macomb. The bet here is, he'd then earn that D-1 scholarship.

So who will be the new varsity boys basketball coach at Aurora Christian? If my hunch is correct, the fellow's name will have a very familiar ring to it.

Athletic Director Don Davidson has stepped down as coach after 31 seasons but will remain as AD and coach middle school ball, something he hasn't done in 41 years when his first coaching job was the eighth graders at Yorkville Junior High. He plans to name his replacement early this week.

I'm no whiz at mathematics, but I think this one comes down to simple addition and subtraction, which even I can handle.

In the press release announcing his retirement, Davidson noted he has 10 grandchildren, nine of them boys. He added that "seven of those boys will be attending Aurora Christian next year with the oldest being in sixth grade."
Hmmmm.

If that's the case, it would appear Davidson's son Marc and his wife, Lisa, will soon be moving back to the area. Their five boys account for half of Don Davidson's grandchildren.

Marc is Aurora Christian's all-time leading scorer and rebounder who earned a scholarship and played for two years at the University of Illinois before transferring to Trinity International in Deerfield. He had two tours of duty playing professional basketball in France that totaled eight years, sandwiched around a three-year stint as athletic director, coach and teacher at Macomb Christian School in Warren, Mich.
Where are they now?

Marc Davidson returned to the states to coach basketball at his alma mater, Trinity International, in June of 2006. In his first season, his team advanced to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in 12 seasons. In the recently concluded season, his club went 8-21.

In his bio on the Trinity International website, it says Marc and his family reside in Gurnee. That would be one heckuva daily commute for grade school students, wouldn't it?

Who better to succeed 62-year-old Don at Aurora Christian than Marc, who would be a good candidate several years from now to succeed his father as athletic director, too.

While watching the end of Belmont's near-upset of Duke Thursday night did you catch the young man in the blue shirt and slacks near the end of the Bruins' bench? Former Waubonsie Valley standout and Beacon News All-Area selection, Jon Rice, had a great seat.

A 6-foot freshman guard, Rice is being redshirted this season.

Rice and Belmont could very well be back in the Big Dance again next year. They lose only one senior off their 14-man roster: 6-2 guard and leading scorer (14.9 average), Justin Hare.

That chant always makes me smirk at prep basketball games, but I wonder if ACC fans have it tattoo'd after seeing rival St. Francis beat Crane 53-46 on the other side of the Riverside-Brookfield Sectional bracket.

I'll give credit to St. Francis - they started out as the No. 7 seed and had to beat No. 2 St. Joseph to get to this point. And Crane (No. 3) was the highest seed on the other side of the bracket...but I can't help but think that ACC got the short end on the draw....

Were they dipping into the blue and gold Kool-Aid at halftime?

Aurora Central fans who chanted "We Want Marshall" Friday as time wound down in their team's 74-61 regional championship victory over Glenbard South weren't confusing the Public League power Commandos with the freshman-laden football team coached by Matthew McConaughey in "We Are Marshall," were they?

Be careful what you wish for, Charger fans.

Then again, it is what it is, as coaches like to say of the playoffs at this time of year. And Nate Drye and his boys will take on whoever the IHSA dishes up next. Question is, how will they handle the Commandos' quickness?

Drye and ACC have beefed up the schedule over the last two years, but his team has yet to see the quickness unleashed by this Marshall lineup. Still, Batavia was within a single point at the Sears Centre.

Drye doesn't have any reserves on his roster, though, to compare with the Commandos. If I were him, I'd have my starting five scrimmage five-on-seven (and maybe 5 on 8) the next two days. That might give his players an idea of the pressure they're likely to face and how quickly the passing lanes may be filled.

Statistics usually help explain what happened in a basketball game. Sometimes, though, they simply make you scratch your head.

Look at the contributions of Waubonsie Valley starters Jelani Johnson and Kyle Obendorf in the Warriors' 61-40 win over York in their regional title game Friday night. Warrior fans know they've played key roles in the team's 22-win season with Obendorf averaging nearly 7 rebounds and Johnson averaging 13.2 points and 7 rebounds.

As I said to coach Steve Weemer afterward, "If I had told you Obendorf would have one rebound before fouling out and Johnson would score just two points but you were going to win by 21 points you would have thought I was crazy."

"You're right," he said.

But that's what happened. Go figure.

"Kyle was a little down but I told him to stay positive," said Weemer. "He's had a great season. He had a tough night but we stayed alive."

And Josh Daniels, who had a career-high 28 points, said it wouldn't be wise to overlook Johnson's contributions.

The junior did have eight rebounds.

"And Jelani did a good job of locking down No. 12 (York's 3-point specialist Roger Coffin)," said Daniels. "We built off his effort on defense and played hard."

We've had multiple overtimes, buzzer beaters, a near historic upset of a No. 1 seed, and other compelling contests involving Beacon News coverage area teams.

It's been amazing - and I expect nothing less of tomorrow's regional title games....