Recently in Boys basketball Category

Kaneland senior David Dudzinski verbally committed to Holy Cross on Monday night. He had narrowed his choices to the Patriot League school in Worcester, Mass., and Loyola of Chicago.

Words we're hearing:

Kaneland basketball player David Dudzinski, a 6-foot-9 center/forward, is close to making a decision on his college commitment.

Naperville North's Matt Hasse, a 6-9 center, has committed to Austin Peay.

The two leading candidates for Dudzinski's services are Loyola of Chicago and Holy Cross of Worcester, Mass.

Holy Cross, with just 2,700 students, is a NCAA Division I program and member of the Patriot League.

It appears the University of Southern California won't be a destination for East Aurora's Ryan Boatright after all.

A published report in the Long Beach Press-Telegram today said the school and new basketball coach Kevin O'Neill are not interested in recruiting the junior point guard who made national headlines at age 13 when he committed to former USC coach Tim Floyd.
After this coaching change this past spring, Boatright re-opened his recruitment.

The report said, "sources said USC has amde no contac with the 5-foot-10 point gaurd from Aurora, Ill., since Floyd left and is not interested in signing him to a letter of intent.

"Current USC basketball coach Kevin O'Neill attended at least one summer tournament Boatright's club team played in but apparently was not impressed enough to recruit him."

Plenty of other suitors are, though, family members recently told the Beacon News, with DePaul, Kansas State and Kentucky among them.

The IHSA Class 4A boys hoops pairings just came out.
Sure enough, there are some interesting pairings in the Oswego East Sectional.

and, surprisingly, the Daily Dose wasn't too far off in its predictions...
First, Neuqua Valley has been sent to Batavia as the top seed. Bolingbrook is the top draw in the Glenbard West Regional (2-for-2)

East Aurora Regional:
Predicted
18-Marmion vs. 21-Wheaton North
Winner vs. 4-East Aurora
7. West Aurora vs. 12. Waubonsie Valley

Actual
13-Oswego East vs. 20-West Chicago
Winner vs. 4-East Aurora
21-Wheaton North vs. 12-Waubonsie Valley
Winner vs. 5-Plainfield North

Judgment: Well, getting 3 of the teams right is a good start - Two of these regionals were going to have two play-in games...so it's nearly impossible to predict which one would get those games. East Aurora pounded Oswego East earlier this season, but if they continue to play shorthanded the Wolves could be an issue. And Plainfield North is a very good team with excellent height and strong guard play. EA and Plain. North make this the toughest regional to come out of.

Naperville Central Regional:
Predicted
16-Naperville North vs. 17-Benet Academy
Winner plays 2-Naperville Central
10-Wheaton Warrenville South vs. 13-Oswego East
Winner plays 5-Painfield North

Actual
14-Willowbrook vs. 18-Marmion Academy
Winner vs. 2-Naperville Central
7-West Aurora vs. 10-Wheaton Warrenville South

Judgment: Well, I got 2 right here. What is Willowbrook doing in this regional, especially with better options available in Batavia and Lombard. That's a head-scratcher. I'm sure the DVC coaches love the fact they get to see each other again. Central is clearly the most talented team, but to play West again in a regional final I'm sure is not what the Redhawks were hoping for.

Batavia Regional:
Predicted
22-Lake Park vs. 20-West Chicago
winner plays 1-Neuqua Valley
14-Willowbrook vs. 9-Batavia
Winner plays 8-Geneva

Actual
16-Naperville North vs. 17-Benet Academy
Winner vs. 1-Neuqua Valley
8-Geneva vs. 9-Batavia

Judgment: Got another 3 teams right here, and I think I would've been right on with this had Willowbrook gone where it made more sense. I initially had Batavia-Geneva in the first round. I can't imagine Neuqua is happy with this. They either get Batavia on its home court or a very tough Geneva team that is close enough to Batavia that it'll be like a home game for them too.

Glenbard West Regional:
Predicted:
15-Glenbard West vs 19-Glenbard North
Winner plays 3-Bolingbrook
11-Bartlett vs. 6-Glenbard East

Actual
15-Glenbard West vs. 19-Glenbard North
Winner vs. 3-Bolingbrook
11-Bartlett vs. 22-Lake Park
Winner vs. 6-Glenbard East

Judgment: Again, two of these regionals were going to have two play in games, so I was pretty close on this oone with 4 teams. Glenbard East is OK, but the Raiders should walk through this Regional in the easiest bracket in the sectional.

Read on for my sectional predictions

Don Davidson is stepping down after 31 seasons as coach of the boys basketball team at Aurora Christian and will be succeeded by his son, Marc.

To honor him, the school is hosting a Don Davidson Night open house at the school's cafeteria and gym at 2255 Sullivan Road on Friday, June 6th from 6 to 9 p.m.

It's a well-deserved honor for the man who started the school's athletic program and will continue to oversee it. He will also continue to teach Bible study classes and coach the junior high team, which is why the school is dubbing it "a coaching retirement celebration." That's well put.

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.