Joliet West planning to use depth over star power this season

You know how the cliche goes: “There’s no ‘I’ in the word team.”

Michael Jordan needed Scottie Pippin to finally start winning championships. With Miami, Cleveland and L.A., LeBron James has needed another star. Even the current defending NBA champs didn’t solely rely on Jayson Tatum, as a whole team of Celtics brought the NBA title home.

But all of those examples have something in common – a star at the center. Typically, a championship team has at least one star or a “Big Three” of sorts. Even at the high school level, Bolingbrook has the superstar trio of Davion Thompson, Trey Brost and JT Pettigrew. The Raiders were the lone area team to make the sectional finals last year.

Another team that reached the sectional semifinals is also worth keeping an eye on. A team that doesn’t rely on a Big Three or superstar, though they have plenty of players with star potential. A team that has produced stars in the past, but is relying on depth this year.

That team? The Joliet West Tigers.

As of this writing, Joliet West is 2-0 on the young season. They opened the year with a 76-42 victory over Zion-Benton at the Riverside-Brookfield Tournament. It was a slow start for the first quarter and a half, but a 17-0 run to close the second started a massive pile-on by the Tigers.

It was a complete effort. While Zion Gross led the way with 17 points, Tristian Saunders and Ethan Hillsman also put up 10 points each. Mickeis Johnson, Kendall Bosby and Nasir Sears each scored eight points. Aamir Shannon supplied outstanding defense, while Luke Grevengoed provided quality ball movement. Everyone on the roster played, and 10 of 11 players scored.

“This is our sixth year building the program as a staff,” coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “We always talk about wanting to go 12 deep. Whether you’re the first person on the bench or the last, we believe everyone can be a contributor, because we hold everyone to that standard. We coach everyone like they’re going to play, so we have no issue subbing someone in when they understand the expectation.”

Gross has earned the most attention on the roster in terms of college recruiting. He has five offers from Division I programs spanning Northern Illinois, Toledo, Kent State, Illinois State and Arkansas State.

Hillman, a transfer from out of state, has also earned attention. A junior, he’s received an offer from Illinois State. Those two have the makings of star players who should produce outstanding college careers when their prep tenure is finished.

Even they will tell you it’s not all on them.

Eight of 11 players on the roster have at least received interest from Division I programs. The others have attracted significant college interest, with Saunders having a slew of D2 and D3 offers.

All of that is to say, the Tigers are a team based around one another from top to bottom, not just one or two kids.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Kreiger said. “These young men understand that when you share the basketball, it makes everyone else more interested in wanting to play hard. At any point, someone will get an available shot.”

Kreiger said after the Zion-Benton game that, while the Tigers have had a lot of success in recent years, they’ve been unable to get over the sectional round hump. Even two years ago with the Fears brothers playing, the Tigers fell in the sectional finals. This year’s group is focused on improving all around from one game to the next in the hope it will all pay off in March.

It’s still very early in the year, but so far the Tigers are looking like a threat to go deep in the postseason.

“Depth is very important,” Gross said. “We all play as one. This is my senior season, so we’re looking to win a lot this year and make a statement.”