Amos-Mays transfers to North Chicago

Updated: September 14, 2011 7:50PM

Wednesday morning, Javairius Amos-Mays began a new chapter of his academic and athletic career when he attended his first sophomore English class as a student at North Chicago High School.

Five days earlier, he was handing the ball off, running with it, and passing it as the starting quarterback for Zion-Benton’s varsity football team.

Which serves as a reminder just how quickly things in life can change.

On Tuesday, Amos-Mays and his mother completed the required transfer paperwork and enrolled at North Chicago, and Wednesday was his first day of classes.

The sudden transfer had to do with family circumstances.

“In this particular case, it was a family decision. There is a legal residence in North Chicago. The family felt that, due to their situation, this was better for the student at this time,” said Brian Colbert, North Chicago’s athletic director.

As for the next step, Colbert explained what’s ahead. “We have to verify that there is a legal residence in the school district. We have to contact the previous school for his student record. They have to clear him and confirm that he’s in good standing. If he’s an athlete, there is a 30-day sit-out period,” he said.

“We are looking at him as a student who happens to be an athlete,” the athletic director added. “That’s how we are approaching the process. He’s a solid student. Whether or not he plays sports, having a student transfer into North Chicago says good things about the way things are going.

“We’re not going to get star-struck because all of a sudden somebody is transferring in. Gerald and I have both been around star players before. Our concern is helping him adjust as a student first, then we’ll worry about how he fits in as an athlete. From what I understand, he’ll be able to help out in other sports besides basketball.”

Colbert, who graduated from Zion-Benton in 1974 and was the basketball team’s all-time leading scorer when he left, pointed out how he and the youngster have taken similar paths.

“Our paths have some similarities. I came from Zion and I ended up here in North Chicago,” he said. “He started out at Zion and now he’s here. If there’s anything that I can share about my experiences that will help him, I’m happy to do that.”

North Chicago basketball coach Gerald Coleman said he had no idea about the transfer until Tuesday.

“I’ve seen him around in the summer leagues, but I haven’t had a reason to talk to him until I saw him in North Chicago yesterday (Tuesday) morning,” the coach said. “I’ve known who most of these kids are since they were in grammar school. I was worried he was skipping school. I immediately called (Zion-Benton basketball coach) (Don Kloth) and then Lonnie Bible, the athletic director over there, and I wanted to be sure that (assistant basketball) coach (Bobby) Worthington was aware, so that they could have a talk with him.”

It turned out that Amos-Mays was registering for classes at the time.

The 30-day sit-out period means Amos-Mays’ football season is over.

He will, however, be eligible for the start of basketball season.

Last year, as a freshman, he was one of the first players off the bench for the Zee-Bee varsity squad.

He was expected to be a starter and key contributor there this winter.

“We went an entire summer preparing to get back to Peoria (site of the state finals) without him, and we’re bringing back a really nice group of players. Once the season starts, he’s going to have to try out and earn his minutes. How he fits in with the pieces we have is going to be important,” Coleman said.

He added that Amos-Mays is another nice addition to a talented sophomore class.

“We have a great sophomore group,” the coach said. “We have JayQuan McCloud and Kurt Hall who have already played varsity (as freshmen), and a lot of good players moving up to the sophomore level. That will be another group that can really do some great things.”

North Chicago finished fourth last year in the Class 3A state tournament, losing to Centralia and Brooks of Chicago in Peoria.

The returning team is led by senior Aaron Simpson.

“We already felt really good about the (basketball) team we had,” said Colbert. “We see this young man as an addition to a team we already thought could be playing in Peoria.”

Amos-Mays is a 6-2 guard who can play either the point or wing.

On the football field, he was the quarterback of Zion-Benton’s sophomore team as a freshman before winning the varsity starting job over the summer.

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