Are these young Eagles ready to soar?

Brooks forward Kevin Gray maneuvers in the post. Gray and his sophomore twin brother Keith are returnees from last season.
(Scott Powers/For the Sun-Times News Group)

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

Chris Head can’t take watching his Brooks team anymore.

He’s seen enough turnovers, enough of his players failing to close out on shooters and simply enough of them not doing what he’s taught them to do.

Sitting in a foldout chair on the corner of the UIC court on Tuesday, he opts to look away from his team’s game and to his left where there’s another contest going. A moment passes and Head can’t help it, his eyes are back fixed on Brooks.

This is what the past year and a half has been like for Head. Having brought seven freshmen and two sophomores up to varsity last season, Head’s patience has plenty a time been tested. It’s hard to tell if he’s lost any hair over it all as he had little to start with.

But it isn’t always this way. Brooks’ play this summer has certainly been better than it was during the winter. There is a reason why Head’s attention always returns to his team’s court.

There are moments still where the young Eagles frustrate him, but then there are those moments where he sees them maturing and becoming the team he envisions them to someday be.

"It's definitely a learning process with them," said Head, who won a state championship coaching Westinghouse in 2002. "Most people forget these are still 14-, 15-year-old kids. I can see them growing. They are improving. For me, it was a trying season last year. Coming from what I’m used to, it was a learning process for me, too. We learned from each other. We're going to mature. We’re going to get better."

On this day, the Eagles respond and show they have been listening to Head. Down 21-20 in the fourth quarter to Von Steuben, Brooks ends the game on a 14-0 run as the Eagles display a whole different game.

The turnovers and the defensive lapses cease, and the youngsters take over. Sophomore George Marshall drives right through the defense and scores on a layup; 6-5 sophomore Kevin Gray is fouled hard while shooting and muscles in the shot; 6-4 Keith Gray, Kevin’s twin, leaps above everyone in the lane on a free-throw miss and tips in the ball.

It’s these Eagles, the ones with a whole lot of talent and potential, that has already knocked off the likes of Simeon, Lincoln Park and Hyde Park this summer. It’s these Eagles that believe they can step into that elite category of the Public League next season.

"This season we're trying to win it all," Marshall said. "We know we can compete with anyone in the state. Beating those teams this summer opened my eyes, but at the same time during the course of a game I expect it."

Whatever Brooks does, Marshall will be the driving force behind it. A starter as a freshman, Marshall is a 5-9 guard who is versatile enough to play either guard spot and has the quickness to create for himself and others. He also has something that Head values in all of his best players.

"He's not afraid," Head said. "George is starting to come into own. He has the capability of taking over a game."

Running alongside Marshall in the backcourt is fellow sophomore Mike Powell. Powell doesn’t have the strong build of Marshall, but he has the quickness and passing ability to disrupt offenses.

In the front court, it's the Gray twins, Kevin and Keith. Both are still raw, but throughout a game will show glimpses of what they’re capable with their superior athleticism and height.

As with all Head teams, defense is what drives Brooks.

"Defense is still our focus," Head said. "We’re going to win a few games with our offense, but we’re going to base everything we do with our defense."

With that defense, Marshall, the twins, Powell, Justin Raab, Corey Jumper and others coming back from last year's team, a squad that went 21-7 and lost in regionals, Brooks isn’t thinking about the future anymore. It’s about now.

"Last year, everyone was saying by the time we were juniors and seniors we’d be dominating," Keith Gray said. "We want to do it this year."

Head believes his team can do that.

"I really do," he said. "Next year we’re going to play in the Red South with the new alignment. In my personal opinion, the Red South is going to be the toughest conference in the city. We're going to have to step our game up."

Ultimately, Head just wants one main thing from his team this season.

"The thing I see in high school basketball is kids aren’t having fun anymore," he said. "We have to get them back there."