IHSA Talk

#1      
How is it possible in a 4 class system for a school such as Yorkville Christian (Jaden Schutt's team) to be a 1A school? Don't get me wrong, I understand that their enrollment is low enough to be 1A, but there is no way that Yorkville Christian and your local small town public school are working under the same set of rules.

Yorkville Christian only lost to St. Rita by 8 points 111-103 - the same St. Rita that Illinois has a verbal commit from and at least one other player that they are recruiting.
Yorkville Christian beat Kenwood by by 7 points 75 -68 - the same Kenwood that has Dai Dai Ames an Illinois recruit.

Yorkville Christian should not be competing in the IHSA class 1A state tournament! My understanding is that their is a multiplier that is used for private schools (who can recruit) to determine what IHSA class they compete in, but this just doesn't seem right. In the past, I always thought that no matter the enrollment, a private school had to bump up a class from where their enrollment placed them. This system seems broke.

I feel bad for all those small school teams whose dreams will get crushed by a team that could probably compete for the Class 3A State Title, and probably should at least be playing in Class 2A.
 
#3      

DReq

Always Illini
Central Illinois
The IHSA policy is explained by them as follows:

IHSA By-Law 3.170 requires a 1.65 multiplier be applied to the enrollment of every non-boundaried school. Waivers of the 1.65 multiplier are granted to individual sport and activity programs on a two-year basis. A sport or activity program at a particular school is not eligible for an automatic waiver (and is therefore multiplied) for the current school term if, over the course of the previous two-year cycle, the program (as a team) has accomplished any of the following:

1. Won a state tournament trophy.
2. Accumulated regional titles, sectional titles, or top-10 finishes beyond certain limits described in Policy 17.
All other sport and activity programs are granted an automatic waiver of the 1.65 multiplier.

It should be noted that multiplying a school's enrollment by 1.65 does not necessarily result in placement in a higher classification.

Yorkville Christian is a non-boundaried school. Waivers are routinely granted unless one of the above criteria is met. Best I can tell, they have had a waiver so far.
 
#4      
Yorkville Christian's actual enrollment, per the IHSA website, is 64.5. With the multiplier, it's 106.43.

And it's funny seeing someone complain about this when, for years, people have been complaining about the dominance of the CPL and the Chicago Catholic League in the lower classes.
 
#5      
For a comparison, Texas has UIL which is the IHSA for public schools only, and TAPPS, which is for private schools.

However, a private school can petition to be in the UIL, but they have to compete in the highest classification (6A here).

I only know of one school that does it, which is Strake Jesuit in Houston. That is where Matthew Boling,of 9.98 100m dash in high school fame, went. They won 6A track stuff that year and it was competitive but fair. I saw their basketball team play earlier this year. Also good enough to compete, but not overwhelming to their 6A opponents.
 
#7      
Yorkville Christian's actual enrollment, per the IHSA website, is 64.5. With the multiplier, it's 106.43.

And it's funny seeing someone complain about this when, for years, people have been complaining about the dominance of the CPL and the Chicago Catholic League in the lower classes.
I guess all those discussions in the recruiting thread about Glenbard West giving Sierra Canyon a game should look at the enrollment... I mean as big as Glenbard West is, they should have destroyed Sierra Canyon. I mean they only have 1100 students. /s

The argument isn't about enrollment. It's the recruiting part that changes everything. Private schools being able to bring in kids from anywhere vs public schools being limited by the boundaries of the school district. The enrollment means nothing if you are picking and choosing who you bring into your school. Based on their ability to compete with much larger schools (teams with muliple D1 basketball recruits), I would imagine that there are multiple players that are enrolled in the school based on their athletic ability!

Small towns/rural school districts don't have that same luxury. If a really good athlete goes to the school, it's because he/she lives in the district!
 
#8      
Do private schools recruit? Sure they do. I knew a guy in college that went to one of the private Catholic schools in the Chicago suburbs and he would talk about how the school would rent out apartments for the athletes.

Of course, these schools also have one other thing that helps them recruit. Success. If you want to grow your high school program and have it maintain a high level of play the best way to do it is to win. The more success small schools have in sports, the easier it will be for them to have players come out for the team.
 
#9      

WWWWRocU

Herndon, VA
Do private schools recruit? Sure they do. I knew a guy in college that went to one of the private Catholic schools in the Chicago suburbs and he would talk about how the school would rent out apartments for the athletes.

Of course, these schools also have one other thing that helps them recruit. Success. If you want to grow your high school program and have it maintain a high level of play the best way to do it is to win. The more success small schools have in sports, the easier it will be for them to have players come out for the team.
I was in the kitchen when my Dad got a phone call from a Catholic school coach tp recruit my younger brother. My Dad declined because he would have had to ride a bus to get there, instead of walking to Thornridge and playing for them. This was 1976.
 
#10      

KBLEE

Montgomery, IL
Small towns/rural school districts don't have that same luxury. If a really good athlete goes to the school, it's because he/she lives in the district!

Yorkville Christian is probably not the best example to use for this argument. They are on the farthest western edge of the Chicago suburbs. The school is literally surrounded by cornfields.

The main reason they are doing so well is that they have Jaden Schutt on their roster. And, he is actually from Yorkville.
 
#11      
Of course, these schools also have one other thing that helps them recruit. Success. If you want to grow your high school program and have it maintain a high level of play the best way to do it is to win. The more success small schools have in sports, the easier it will be for them to have players come out for the team.

It doesn't really matter how much Success the high school program has, you are still limited to the boundaries of the district. I don't see many people moving out to some rural community just because of the success of the high school basketball program? Especially considering the limited availablity of jobs in a number of these rural communities.
 
#12      
Yorkville Christian is probably not the best example to use for this argument. They are on the farthest western edge of the Chicago suburbs. The school is literally surrounded by cornfields.

The main reason they are doing so well is that they have Jaden Schutt on their roster. And, he is actually from Yorkville.

So because it is surrounded by cornfields and on the far edge of the Chicago suburbs its not a good argument!

https://www.illinois-demographics.com/counties_by_population

Yorkville has a population of 22,176 for 2022. Yorkville HS the public school in Yorkville is a 4A school.
The state of Illinois has 50 counties with less population than Yorkville does.

This doesn't even take into consideration that private schools like Yorkville Christian recruit outside of their city. So even if Yorkville Christian only took the top kids that would have been going to Yorkville HS, they are pulling from an enrollment that is large enough it would have to play in 4A.

In comparison, Fulton HS the #2 team in IHSA Class 1A is pulling from an enrollment of 278 kids. Macon (Meridian) #3 team in class 1A is pulling from an enrollment of 262 kids.
 
Last edited:
#13      
Assistant coach from a 1A school here...

We have a decent shot at meeting Yorkville in Champaign and I'm not one to complain but that multiplier has done absolutely nothing for small schools.

20,000 people in Yorkville compared to the 1,000 in our town. Private schools still clearly benefit from their position to bring players in compared to our set in place boundaries.

Rooting for every team that plays against Yorkville all the way to the title game.
 
#14      
It doesn't really matter how much Success the high school program has, you are still limited to the boundaries of the district. I don't see many people moving out to some rural community just because of the success of the high school basketball program? Especially considering the limited availablity of jobs in a number of these rural communities.

While basketball may not be a great example for what I'm about to mention but...how do you explain smaller schools like Rochester and Williamsville maintaining their success in football for the better part of the last decade? Or if you want to go even smaller than those two, what about places like Central A&M or Dakota?
 
#15      
It is a problem in all sports boys or girls. In my humble opinion it is far past time for the IHSA to start up a class for all schools that don't have strict boundaries in regards to where their student population comes from. Many a public school has had the unfair match-up during a state tournament end what could have been a memorable season.
 
#16      
It is a problem in all sports boys or girls. In my humble opinion it is far past time for the IHSA to start up a class for all schools that don't have strict boundaries in regards to where their student population comes from. Many a public school has had the unfair match-up during a state tournament end what could have been a memorable season.

Did the highlighted part really become an issue until say the last decade though in basketball?
 
#17      
While basketball may not be a great example for what I'm about to mention but...how do you explain smaller schools like Rochester and Williamsville maintaining their success in football for the better part of the last decade? Or if you want to go even smaller than those two, what about places like Central A&M or Dakota?

It goes in cycles. My hometown had a run of very good athletes for about 15 years as well as very good coaches. They have been really down for quite some time now. The towns you mentioned will return to mediocrity sooner or later.
 
#18      
Assistant coach from a 1A school here...

We have a decent shot at meeting Yorkville in Champaign and I'm not one to complain but that multiplier has done absolutely nothing for small schools.

20,000 people in Yorkville compared to the 1,000 in our town. Private schools still clearly benefit from their position to bring players in compared to our set in place boundaries.

Rooting for every team that plays against Yorkville all the way to the title game.

IHSA Bracket out. I'm with OrangeSoda1 cheering for all the small towns to beat Yorkville Christian and any other Private School in the Bracket.

https://www.ihsa.org/Sports-Activit...nformation-Results?url=/data/bkb/1bracket.htm
 
#20      

Neidermeyer

Faber College
While basketball may not be a great example for what I'm about to mention but...how do you explain smaller schools like Rochester and Williamsville maintaining their success in football for the better part of the last decade? Or if you want to go even smaller than those two, what about places like Central A&M or Dakota?
People move to those (Rochester & Williamsville) communities just to play football. It's also the flight from the city public schools to the "safer" areas.
 
#22      
As someone who attended a Chicago Catholic League school that has a history of athletic rivalry with others in the conference, I'll say this: no zip code rules = wider map (to recruit). Besides the usual local kids, my school had kids from NW Indiana, kids from practically every zip code from the inner and outer ring suburbs, to Catholic kids from Pilsen and Bridgeport, plus non-Catholics from not-so-great Chicago neighborhoods looking for an alternative to their local CPS.

The admins' rivals weren't so much the local public school, it was producing a product that was more attractive than the other Catholic high school 20 minutes away who was also bragging that X number kids came from X number of zip codes.

Currently, one of the prime focuses is to succeed athletically where the school president has hired athletic coaches who could delivery the goods. So far it's working. In the past the high school was good at one or two sports in any given season, but now not only is the basketball team winning, but also the football, baseball, soccer and volleyball team both at conference play and at the state level. Unfortunately our cheerleading squad, the gem of the school in past years, has fallen to absolute mediocrity. It'll be a while before they see another national banner.

I would guess Yorkshire Christian is far more selective on who they recruit, whether for sports or academics, to fill out their enrollment in comparison to X or Y public school who can only work with the kids within their district boundaries.
 
Last edited:
#23      
I coached basketball at a middle school in Grundy County for many years. Every so often, coaches from Joliet Catholic would come and watch our games-either scouting one of our players or one of our opponent players. The same thing would happen when we ventured to Kankakee County to play schools in that area. The Bishop Mac coaches would be around.
 
#24      
In their final regular season game Yorkville Christian beat South Beloit 83-61. South Beloit has been ranked in the top ten 1A schools throughout the year and are currently ranked 9th!
 
#25      
Quarterfinal of regionals
Yorkville Christian 108 - Chicago (Morgan Park Academy) 46

Semifinal of regionals
Yorkville Christian 100 - Serena 56