Boys basketball: Downers Grove North senior Jack Stanton is the Suburban Life Player of the Year

Senior guard Jack Stanton left a memorable legacy at Downers Grove North that transcends statistics or personal achievements.

Stanton, a Princeton recruit, owns an impressive list of accomplishments – personal and team – for his career.

Stanton also helped pave the way for the next generation of Trojans basketball players to dream big and make their own mark. Before Stanton and the rest of the seniors arrived on the scene, the Downers Grove North basketball program had not won more than 26 games in a season or advanced to the state tournament since the 1919-20 season.

That all changed when the six seniors entered the program.

Downers Grove North coach Jim Thomas said he saw the change last summer.

“Jack was the biggest hit in our summer camp,” Thomas said. “He spoke at our camp and told the kids what it takes in the classroom and in the offseason. He talked about holding yourself to a high standard. Kids were coming up to him asking for autographs.”

Stanton, the 2023-24 Suburban Life Newspaper Boys Basketball Player of the Year, said the magical ride to the Class 4A fourth-place trophy in his junior year motivated the seniors, notably Owen Thulin, Jake Riemer and Alex Miller, to make another run for the state championship this season. The Trojans (31-5, 11-1) captured their first outright West Suburban Conference Silver Division title in 23 years and advanced to the supersectionals. The back-to-back sectional titles were a first in school history.

The six seniors led the most successful run in the program’s history, winning 32 and 31 games in the past two seasons.

Stanton credited the historic two-year run to teamwork and chemistry.

“This was something we dreamed about since we were in the feeder program,” Stanton said. “We have always been a group that cared about winning as opposed to individual success. I think when you focus on that, the individual recognition comes along eventually. Hopefully, we made a difference and many fun memories for the community because it was definitely fun for us these past few years.”

The 6-foot-2 Stanton, an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Class 4A First-Team All-State selection and 4A Illinois Media First-Team member, averaged 14 points, four rebounds and four assists for a balanced Trojans team this season. He was named to the West Suburban Silver All-Conference team.

Stanton said the seniors wanted to add to their legacies this season.

“It was an unbelievable challenge that we were so grateful to have,” Stanton said. “It allowed us seniors to work on our leadership to push this program forward and that was definitely hard to do, but super fun and exciting. We wanted to win this season, and to end with just five losses this season, I think we did our jobs well.”

Although the Trojans’ dream of a second straight trip to Champaign ended in a blowout loss to Normal in the supersectional, Stanton said the team deftly handled a tough schedule and high expectations.

“The biggest thing was staying within ourselves and not contributing to outside factors,” he said. “It allowed us to have more confidence and gave us a sense of belief in all of us.”

Stanton’s career ended in a flourish but it started with humble beginnings. He played on the freshman team before earning a promotion to the varsity in his sophomore season.

”I didn’t think too much about it at the time about not being pulled up,” Stanton said. “I just trusted the process and at the time the only thing I wanted to do was play basketball with my friends.”

Stanton said his game took off during the pandemic, which forced him to find an outlet to bide his time rather than stay inside all day long. Basketball, Stanton said, became the sport for him.

“When COVID started, I really got into basketball,” Stanton said. “My friends and I would ride our bikes to a nearby park and play for over five hours a day. That’s when I really found a love for the game. I also had an upperclassman take me under his wing and I would work out with him every day. He was a lot better than me, so it built a competitiveness in me to try and beat him.”

Thomas said Stanton started showing signs of a breakout career during his sophomore season.

“As a sophomore, we noticed how well he could shoot and get it going,” Thomas said. “He was a little streaky back then, but you could see his awareness and what he could do to get it done.”

Stanton’s biggest leap came during his junior season, when his prolific shooting started attracting the attention of college coaches. The Trojans’ historic journey to the state tournament attracted a bigger spotlight.

“As a junior, he became a captain and I thought really established himself as one of the leaders on and off the floor,” Thomas said. “He became more of a combo guard and built off a really good summer. He turned himself into a very good two-way player, a willing passer and a good setup man last season.

Thomas said Stanton became a multidimensional threat on offense to go with his defensive ability. Stanton’s game gained many layers to make him unstoppable at times against opponents.

“This year he took everything to a whole new level,” Thomas said. “He gained 12 pounds and had a great offseason to go with the added ability to play off the ball with people hanging all over him. He added to his game by going left and right, also with the ability to score on all three levels.

“We would run him off the three-point line and he became tough to stop at the rim. If he would not finish himself, his ability was great to set up teammates. No matter the assignment defensively, when needed, we called upon Jack to defend other team’s best player. He’s very intuitive to what’s going on the floor, off the floor, in the classroom and inside our building. I’m grateful to coach a kid like him.”