Becoming an elite basketball player comes at high price
By Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram Whitney Young junior guard Adrienne Truitt and her family have never gone on a family vacation in the last 10 years. Not even on short trips. Adrienne’s father Michael wanted to spend every additional penny he had on his daughter’s basketball career. And it is considerable: An estimated $40,000.
Eight is not enough: Whitney Young girls shoot for their fourth state title
Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram The Whitney Young Dolphins’ gym was unusually cheerful last Wednesday, the first day of practice after the team brought home its eighth straight city title Feb. 7. During the warmups, senior point guard Kiara Lewis and teammate Breanna Beck broke into a quick hip-hop routine to Drake’s “Hotline Bling.”
Meet the Irvins, the South Side’s basketball dynasty
By Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram Mac Irvin elbowed his older brother, Nick Irvin, so he could dunk the basketball on the makeshift backyard court of his South Side house. He smirked at him and pointed to his T-shirt, which read “Mac Irvin Fire,” the name of his late father’s Nike-sponsored AAU team. Competition runs deep in […]
Chicago Sky’s Tamera Young and singer Michelle Williams jazz up Whitney Young practice
By Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram The Whitney Young Dolphins don’t usually wear make up with their practice uniforms. But this wasn’t an ordinary practice Friday. Chicago Sky’s forward Tamera Young and pop-star Michelle Williams were on hand for a special conversation with the team. Their excitement was palpable, as the players wanted to look good for […]
Being Kiara Lewis: the girl with a killer dribble
By Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram Watching 5-foot-9 point guard Kiara Lewis go after an opponent is like watching a tiger go after its prey. The 17-year-old is “a terror on the basketball court,” said former girls’ coach Joyce Kenner, now the principal of Whitney Young High School. She attacked the ball even as a second grader […]
Whitney Young Dolphins coach Irvin joins the 400-wins club
By Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram Next to a toy truck and a bowl of vending machine-friendly nickels and quarters on her desk, Corry Irvin keeps a half dozen photos of her Whitney Young Dolphins winning the 2013 state title and a paper that says, “Don’t quit until you make an impact on the future of women’s […]
IIT wins battle of words, falls on scoreboard
By Grant Miller Illinois Institute of Technology’s freshman guard Anthony Mosley schooled the upperclassmen Thursday night with his third consecutive 20-point game in a loss to Aurora. “He was calling me soft,” Mosley said about Spartan junior guard Jordan LaGrone. “I had to show him a thing or two.” Mosley, one of IIT’s four freshmen […]
