Mendota sportswriter Kip Cheek, player Rick Jacobs get call to IBCA Hall of Fame

A long time sportswriter and a former basketball standout from Mendota will be going into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Kip Cheek, of the Mendota Reporter, as a media member, and Rick Jacobs, a Trojans standout from the early 1970s, were named to the 2022 IBCA Hall of Fame Class, which will be inducted next spring.

Sports were always a way of life for Cheek growing up in the small central Illinois town of Atlanta. He turned his love for sports into a career. The Illinois State University graduate came north to the Mendota Reporter as sports editor in 1984 and has become a fixture around the local sports scene.

Included in his long list of award-winning coverage are five state basketball appearances (3 boys/2 girls), five state volleyball appearances, three state baseball appearances and 15 playoff football games at Mendota. He most recently covered Amboy’s appearance in the 8-man football state finals.

Cheek, who has also served as publisher and news editor of the Reporter, was honored and humbled by his nomination.

“I usually watch Hall of Fame ceremonies of professional sports, and quite often those being inducted refer to it as the pinnacle of their career. Well, now I know how they feel,” he said. “It’s incredible to realize that all of the games attended, the athletes and coaches covered, the miles traveled and the long hours put in after the games have ended has resulted in being selected to the IBCA Hall of Fame.

“It definitely shows my age, but it’s mind-boggling to be covering athletes now whose parents I covered when they were in high school. I’m sure longevity has something to do with my selection into the Hall of Fame, but I’d also like to think that I have provided our readers with the best possible coverage of their local athletes and teams all of these years.”

IBCA Hall of Fame coach Mike Kilmartin, of Mendota, has formed a longtime friendship and working relationship with Cheek over the years. He said he knew he could “always trust Cheek to be fair in his reporting and not hang out any coach or athlete to dry.”

Mike Cooper, a Mendota native and IBCA Hall of Fame coach at Ottawa, said Cheek “performs his duties at the highest level when it comes to professionalism. He continues to make high school sports a priority, which is becoming hard to find in the state of Illinois.”

While he said the 38-plus years have gone by so quickly, Cheek can “still see (former Trojan standout) Mark Cooper stealing a pass and going in for a would-be dunk at the Plano Christmas Classic in 1986.”

Cheek is one of four sportswriters from his small hometown, including nationally renowned columnist Dave Kindred and Randy Kindred of the Bloomington Pantagraph, and now joins them all as IBCA Hall of Famers.

Jacobs, who is retired and living in Wisconsin, left his mark as one of the top players in school history. The 1971 Mendota graduate is tied for No. 7 on the Trojans’ all-time scoring records with 1,408 career points.

“From someone a couple years younger that saw Rick play a lot, he could bomb from the outside years before the 3-pointer was in place. He could drive and slash to the hole while holding his own in the paint with the big guys,” Mendota historian and former coach Pat Beals said.

Jacobs’ varsity career began his sophomore year, averaging 13.5 points for a 23-5 team playing for the late Bob Beals, another IBCA HOF inductee.

As a junior, Jacobs averaged 21.2 ppg for a 14-10 Trojans’ team, receiving First-Team All-NCIC and Special Mention All-State honors.

Jacobs was one of the stars as a senior (522 points/19.3 ppg) for the No. 7 state-ranked 1970-71 team that went 27-2, averaging 90.5 ppg while scoring 100 points or more in nine games. He was recognized by six separate all-state teams with first-team honors from the Chicago Daily News, Illinois Sport Writers Association and Associated Press. He was all-tournament at Pekin, First-Team NewsTribune All-Area and All NCIC.

Jacobs’ talents drew the awe of Tom Cassidy, a young Mendota fan at the time, who nominated him for the Hall of Fame.

“Rick was a scoring threat each time he had the ball. A superior outside forward who ran the court, could shoot from anywhere and rebounded well,” Cassidy said. “He was the ultimate team leader and a great competitor. The team always came before him each and every game. Rick told me last week, ‘I wish our whole team was in HOF. We played so well together.’

“He enjoyed playing with little brother Terry and the Phalen boys.”

The final step of Jacobs’ basketball journey took him to Centenary College of Louisiana on scholarship playing on the same team as NBA Hall of Famer Robert Parrish.

• Another inductee with area ties is Tony Lavorato, Jr., son of the former Princeton coach, Tony, Sr. Lavorato, Jr., who retired after the 2021-22 season with 407 wins, surpassing his father. He was the longest tenured coach at Maine South (19 years) and its all-time winningest coach (354 wins), also coaching at Stagg.