Phillips Wildcats

Current student-athletes carrying on the Phillips tradition include (from left) Angelica Dowdell, Quanteisha Carter, Michael Holt, Chanelle Tolbert, Admiral Salaam, Chanelle Winters, Larry Jamerson, Marcel Pryor and Charles Young.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)

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Phillips is the Sun-Times' Spotlight School of the Week. The Wildcats have won seven state titles, including six in boys track. Notable alumni include singer Nat ‘‘King’’ Cole, entertainer Dinah Washington, former NFL player Chris Hinton and Ted ‘‘Double Duty’’ Radcliffe, a member of Baseball Hall of Fame.

TOP SPORTS MOMENTS

Alone at the top

1 Coach Herb Brown's 32-1 powerhouse, led by Louisville-bound Larry Williams, Marquette-bound Robert Byrd, Marty Murray, Norman Perry and Vincent Robinson, avenged a 1974 loss to Morgan Park in the Public League final and went on to beat Waukegan, Peoria Richwoods and Bloom to win the state Class AA title in 1975. Williams and Murray were all-tourney picks.

No. 1 vs. No. 2

2 In one of the most dramatic basketball games ever played in Illinois, top-ranked Phillips beat second-rated Westinghouse, Mark Aguirre and Eddie Johnson 77-65 for the 1977 Public League title before 12,000 at the Amphitheatre. Darius Clemons, Bobby Hatten, Steve Parham and Sherrod Arnold led the 28-1 team, which lost to St. Laurence in the state quarterfinals.

Prep Bowlers

3 Phillips has appeared in two Prep Bowl games, losing to St. George 19-12 in 1943 and 40-24 to St. Laurence in 1973. Against St. George, future College Football Hall of Famer Buddy Young ran for both of Phillips' touchdowns and averaged 40.7 yards on eight punts. Roy Parker broke loose for 153 yards, including a 75-yard scoring burst, against St. Laurence.

Track champs

4 Coach Carl Bonner's track and field team won the 1962 state title as Harvey Blair won the 220, was second in the 100 and led off the winning 880 relay that included Walter Brakes, Vernon Brooks and Willie Collins. Brooks, Gene Brown, Marshall Glover and Gilbert Williams won the mile relay. Brooks, Glover, Collins and Ed Frederick scored points in other events.

A special season

5 Coach Bob Hansen's 1984-85 girls basketball team, led by Sun-Times player of the year Shirley Joiner and Kathy Ollie, was ranked No. 3 in the state after the regular season. They finished 27-2, losing 74-44 in the Public League final to Marshall, which went on to win the state title. Earlier, they beat Marshall 54-48 to win the Mayor's Holiday Tournament title.

WHAT PHILLIPS MEANS TO ME

By Osiris Eldridge: A 2006 graduate, the 6-3 sophomore led Illinois State to a 25-10 record and was second in voting for the MVC’s player of the year.

It was fate that I ended up at Phillips. After I attended Drake Elementary School, I was late in applying to high school. So I was assigned to Phillips. I could have gone to Dunbar, which was in my backyard. After my freshman year, I thought about transferring. But I'm glad I decided to stay.

People said Phillips was a basketball school. But the teachers and the coaches who worked there tried their best to influence the kids to understand what life would be like after high school. And they tried to get you ready for college.

A lot of kids don't understand. They think life will be easy. They need to buckle down and fly straight or they'll make it hard on themselves. It won't hit them until they get out of high school, aren't going to college and have to find a job to support themselves. Then it's too late.

I was fortunate to be around a lot of people who went to college and were positive influences on me. As a freshman, Miss Douglas, the athletic director at the time, was one of the reasons why I got better. She worked out me and my best friend, Alonzo Crossley, after school every day. That's when I started to blossom. Until then, I wasn't serious about basketball. She motivated me.

Then I met Aaron ''Lefty'' Boyd, an AAU coach who hooked me up with coach Mac Irvin and the Illinois Fire. He opened up a whole new world for me. Before my junior year, I went to the 5-Star camp in Pennsylvania and made the all-star team. People started to notice me.

Paris Parham became the basketball coach at Phillips when I was a junior. Now he's an assistant at Illinois State. He polished me and made me the player I am now. He took me to another level.

Coach Parham always says: Separate yourself on the court and in life. You know you are the best on the court, so you must show it. If you have friends who aren't doing anything positive, separate yourself from them.

NOTABLE ALUMNI

• Maudelle Brown Bousfield: Phillips principal 1939-50, first African-American principal of a Chicago public school.

• Nat ‘‘King’’ Cole: Singer and entertainer.

• Sam Cooke: Pop and gospel recording star.

• Paul Des Jardien: Member of College Football Hall of Fame.

• Vivian G. Harsh: Chicago’s first black head librarian.

• Chris Hinton: NFL player.

• George E. Johnson: Founder, Johnson Products, the first African-American owned company listed on American Stock Exchange.

• John H. Johnson: Founder, Ebony and Jet magazines.

• Alonzo S. Parham: First African American to attend West Point.

• Ted ‘‘Double Duty’’ Radcliffe: Member of Baseball Hall of Fame.

• Al Pullins: Original member, Harlem Globetrotters.

• Major N. Clark Smith: Musical director, teacher.

• Dinah Washington: Singer and entertainer.