Brother Rice Crusaders

Current top athletes at Brother Rice include (from left) Kevin Padden, Bryan Thompson, J.J. Marren, Aaron Shellberg, Tom O’Shea, Doug Schumacher, Kyle Escalona, Mike McQuillan, Malik Taylor, Krys Randolph, Matt Lydon, Rich Eber, John Zawaski, Matt Joslyn and Mark Serio.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)

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Brother Rice, a private all-boys school on the South Side of Chicago, is the Sun-Times' Spotlight School of the Week. The Crusaders have won state titles in water polo, football and baseball. Notable alumni include North Carolina guard Bobby Frasor, former Blackhawk Eddie Olczyk, "Lord of the Dance" creator Michael Flatley and John C. Reilly, an Academy Award-nominated actor.

TOP SPORTS MOMENTS

GRIDIRON SUCCESS

1 Coach Tom Mitchell guided the football team to the 1981 Class 6A state football title with a 14-0 victory over Reavis at Dyche Stadium. Bob Opalacz had three fumble recoveries, returning one for a touchdown. All-state running back Mike O'Neill was a standout, and current Crusaders assistant coach Mark Klutcharch also was on that squad, which finished 11-2.

KINGS OF THE DIAMOND

2 Ending the season 36-6, the 1976 baseball team won the state title. Coach George Sedlacek's team beat Libertyville 5-4 in the final behind future major-leaguer Jim Adduci (Cardinals, Brewers, Phillies) and Randy Schwartz, who went on to play at Creighton. Pitcher Steve Klutcharch started the title game but had a no-decision.

BEATING FUTURE PROS

3 Brother Rice beat Mount Carmel 69-66 in a Class AA boys basketball sectional title game in 1994 on Dan Maloney's three-pointer at the buzzer. Mount Carmel featured future NBA player Antoine Walker and future NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb. Brother Rice also ended the prep careers of Richards' Dwyane Wade and Robeson's Jeremy Pargo.

CATHOLIC LEAGUE CHAMPS

4 The 1969 basketball team won its first Catholic League title with a victory over Leo. Coach Will Kellogg's team featured junior guard Pat MacFarlane and future Bull and Catholic League Hall of Famer Phil Hicks, a sophomore who came off the bench. The title was the first in football or basketball for a school with its first graduating class in 1960 or later.

TRADITION IN THE POOL

5 Before the Illinois High School Association had a water polo state tournament, Brother Rice and its legendary coach, Jim ''Moose" Mulchrone, won 13 state titles. Mulchrone's career record was 724-79. In 2003, Bill Mulchrone, Moose's son, coached the Crusaders to a state title. Brother Rice beat St. Patrick 15-5 and finished 30-2.

WHAT BROTHER RICE MEANS TO ME

By Bobby Frasor: A 2005 graduate, Frasor is a junior at North Carolina. He has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and is out for the season.

Brother Rice means a lot to me. At North Carolina, people look at me funny when they find out I went to an all-boys school in Chicago. But I made a ton of friendships at Rice that are second to none.

Basketball was the only sport I played there, and I focused on that. At all the home games, we had great fan support with the Crusader Crazies, and that made for the best atmosphere. I remember home games like when we played Marist my senior year and how packed the gym was. And I remember the supersectional game when we beat Proviso East to go Downstate [in 2005].

I lived in Blue Island, and I looked around at high schools. My dad went to Mount Carmel, but Brother Rice had the best of both worlds -- academics, athletics and even the social life.

Freshman year was awhile ago, but I remember meeting new people. I'm about a 15-minute drive away, and I went to high school with a couple of friends from grammar school. The experience going to school at Rice was different for me, living in Blue Island and hanging out with those kids from the South Side. My friends in Blue Island hung out and played sports, but all the South Side Irish kids were crazy.

I don't know of anything specific [basketball] coach [Pat] Richardson taught me, but when you see him and how much work he puts into his job, it shows how you can be successful. I took that from him.

It's hard to get back to Brother Rice. I'm [in North Carolina] most of the summer and during the school year playing basketball. But last year I worked a high school camp with coach Richardson and got to see some people.

It's a lot different [going back]. You just see high school kids now and think they are so small and tiny, but you were there just a couple of years ago.

NOTABLE ALUMNI

• Kevin Cronin: Lead singer, REO Speedwagon

• David Diehl: New York Giants offensive tackle

• John Meyer: Former Houston Oilers linebacker

• Patrick Elwood: Anchor for Fox News Chicago

• Michael Flatley: Creator of ‘‘Lord of the Dance’’

• Pete Mackanin: Player, manager, Pirates, Reds

• Dr. Thomas Moran: NASA researcher

• John R. Powers: Author, playwright

• John C. Reilly: Academy Award-nominated actor

• John J. York: Actor on ‘‘General Hospital’’

• Jim Zulevic: Actor and comedian (1965-2006)

• Tim Schwertfeger: Ex-CEO/chairman of Nuveen

• Thomas M. Tunney: Alderman

• Ed Olczyk: Former NHL player and Olympian

• Chris Pazan: Former Illinois quarterback

• Phil Hicks: Former Bull

• Lance Ten Broeck: Former PGA Tour player

• Jay Zygmunt: St. Louis Rams president