2024-2025 Kane County Chronicle Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Geneva’s Hudson Kirby

Hudson Kirby’s scoring plan was simple.

Get the ball, get to the basket and score by any means necessary. And if that didn’t work, find a way to the free-throw line or pass the ball out of the paint to the open man.

Not an earth-shattering plan for sure. The Geneva senior knew it, and so did his coach, Scott Hennig.

Yet after two years of mastering the program’s philosophies through experience and buying into multiple sessions of offseason workouts, it was that plan that helped Kirby become the focal point of the Vikings offense.

Better yet, it was one that worked almost every time. And Hennig always knew it.

“I think it was probably pretty known that everything we did went through Hudson,” Hennig said. “It didn’t matter if it was a set play, or our transition, or just our core-based offense. We would always just say to play through Hudson, and good things happen.”

Kirby, a Wisconsin-Parkside commit, finished his senior season averaging 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 blocks per game for the Vikings.

He led the team to 29 wins on the season, which included an undefeated DuKane Conference championship, as well as advancing to a Class 4A sectional final for the second time in three seasons.

Kirby was also an All-Dukane Conference selection and an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Class 4A All-State honorable mention.

Considering the accolades, Kirby is the 2024-2025 Kane County Chronicle Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

“Knowing that the offense flowed through me, I just knew that I had to make every possession count,” Kirby said. “I just knew I had to make it count because last time going around. And I was just super proud of how everything went, especially in the conference.”

While Kirby provided an essential presence in the paint for the Vikings throughout the season, it wasn’t always the case for him.

After playing a minor role on the varsity team in his sophomore season, Hennig said that Kirby became one of the main faces to show up in multiple offseason programs for the team, which as a result led to a massive uptick in productivity on the court.

“He’s going to be a kid that we reference a lot for years to come,” Hennig said. “One of his strengths as a player is that he’s so receptive to feedback. He was always locked in. And if he said he was going to go do something, he was going to do it.

“If you look at Hudson’s trajectory, or just growth over the course of his history on varsity from sophomore year compared to senior year, it’s night and day.”

One feature of his game that Kirby made sure to prioritize before the season began was his strength to help elevate his play in the paint. Pairing that with work he had done ball handling, as well as his passing, helped him in becoming what Hennig called “the complete package in terms of an offensively-skilled basketball player.”

“The weight room was a huge thing this offseason,” Kirby said. “I can be as good as I want, but if I’m not strong enough, then I can’t get to the basket as easily.”

Another aspect of Kirby’s game that he made sure to work on was his ability to make free throws. And the hard work paid off, from going 13 for 13 from the line in a win over Naperville Central, to sinking a game-winner from the stripe in their second game against Wheaton Warrenville South.

“My dad would always tells me, if I can’t shoot great at the free throw line, then all my points are going down,” Kirby said. “Those accounted for at least five points a game. So I knew that was just huge to get up, especially in those tight games in the fourth quarter, when I’d be tired and shooting free throws.”

While Kirby’s days in blue and white have come to an end, he hopes that he leaves behind a legacy that reflects on achievements like his two regional titles, his 70 career wins, or the Vikings’ undefeated conference slate, which was the program’s first since 1962.

“I hope I left behind just being known as a winner and someone that like plays the way that Geneva should play,” Kirby said. “I might not always be the tallest or the strongest, but knowing that I can trust in the coaching and in the style of play helped us beat teams more talented than us.”

And while Hennig says that his on-the-court achievements put him up there as one of the better players to ever come through the program, he’ll remember him more for his winning off-the court, whether it be as a student, or just a member of the community.

“I think a lot of people are going to remember him for what he did on the court,” Hennig said. “But I don’t know if you find a lot of kids better than Hudson Kirby in terms of how he carries himself off the court.”